Biodegradable Sensor for Blood Flow Study

Researchers from Stanford have developed a new biodegradable, wireless and battery free sensor which may help to monitor blood flow through artery. By using this sensor doctors may help to  assess the success of blood vessel surgery. 

The main advantages of the new sensor is:

• It is battery-free, wireless and biodegradable.
• It is compact.
• It doesn’t need to be removed.

Assistant Professor at Stanford, Mr. Paige Fox 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. 

The working flow of sensor is the sensor wraps around the healing vessel in a protective manner, where blood pulsing past pushes on its inner surface. As the shape of that sensors changes, it alters the sensor’s capacity to store electric charge. After the process the device request a reading by pinging the antenna of the sensor which is similar to an ID card scanner. 

First of all this new sensor tested in an artificial setting where they pumped air through an artery-sized tube to mimic pulsing blood flow. In future the researchers looking forward that, this device could come in the form of a stick-on patch or integrated into other technology  like a wearable device or smartphone.