Remote monitoring of blood flow possible with arterial-pulse sensor

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a battery free, biodegradable, and wireless arterial-pulse sensor that can monitor blood flow, and could facilitate the remote monitoring of how successful blood vessel surgery has been and possible detection of an arterial blockage.
The sensor wraps around the healing vessel where blood pulsing past pushes on its inner surface, and changes the capacity of the sensor to store electric charge, which doctors can detect remotely from a device close to the skin but outside the body. That device gives a reading by pinging the antenna of the sensor. It is a wireless version of technology that chemical engineer Zhenan Bao has been developing to give prostheses a sense of touch. He said: “This one has a history. We were always interested in how we can utilise these kinds of sensors in medical applications, but it took a while to find the right fit. Using sensors to allow a patient to discover problems early on is becoming a trend for precision health. It will require people from engineering, from medical school and data people to really work together, and the problems they can address are very exciting.”
Paige Fox, assistant professor of surgery and co-senior author of the paper, said: “Measurement of blood flow is critical in many medical specialities, so a wireless biodegradable sensor could impact multiple fields including vascular, transplant, reconstructive and cardiac surgery. This is a technology that will allow us to extend our care without requiring face-to-face visits or tests.”