Tag: Sensors

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Blood Pressure Sensors

Continuous, cuffless blood pressure monitoring via graphene tattoo

Deji Akinwande, Roozbeh Jafari, and UT Austin colleagues have developed an electronic wrist tattoo that can be worn for hours and deliver highly accurate, continuous blood pressure measurements.

This can provide a much clearer picture of a person’s health than occasional, cuff based measurements at a physicians office, or at home.

Smart watches are not able to successfully measure blood pressure, as they move, are far from arteries, and light-based measurements are often not accurate in people with dark skin or large wrists.

As Akiwande said, “blood pressure is the most important vital sign you can measure” and as Jafari said, “taking infrequent blood pressure measurements has many limitations, and it does not provide insight into exactly how our body is functioning.”

A constant, passive measure, through a tattoo, during normal activity, stress, sleep, or exercise can deliver thousands of measurements more than any existing device.

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Heart Sensors

Wearable sensor network informs transient pacemaker

John Rogers and Northwestern colleagues have developed their second generation transient pacemaker, used post cardiac-surgery or for those awaiting permanent pacemakers. The new version, still implantable, wireless, and self dissolving, works with a network of soft wearable sensors, placed around the body.

The sensors continuously monitor body temperature, oxygen levels, respiration, muscle tone, physical activity, and cardiac electrical activity. Algorithms analyze the data to detect abnormal cardiac rhythms and decide when to pace the heart and at what rate. Physicians can remotely monitor the process through a phone or tablet. Energy is harvested, wirelessly, from a node within the network. Haptic feedback alerts wears of defects.

Rogers said: “This marks the first time we have paired soft, wearable electronics with transient electronic platforms. This approach could change the way patients receive care providing multimodal, closed-loop control over essential physiological processes — through a wireless network of sensors and stimulators that operates in a manner inspired by the complex, biological feedback loops that control behaviors in living organisms. For temporary cardiac pacing, the system untethers patients from monitoring and stimulation apparatuses that keep them confined to a hospital setting. Instead, patients could recover in the comfort of their own homes while maintaining the peace of mind that comes with being remotely monitored by their physicians. This also would reduce the cost of health care and free up hospital beds for other patients.”

The “body-area network” includes:

  • A battery-free transient, bioresorbable pacemaker to temporarily pace the heart
  • A cardiac module that sits on the chest to provide power to and control stimulation parameters for the implanted pacemaker as well as sense electrical activity and sounds of the heart
  • A hemodynamics module that sits on the forehead to sense pulse oximetry, tissue oxygenation and vascular tone
  • A respiratory module that sits at the base of the throat to monitor coughing and respiratory activity
  • A multi-haptic-feedback module that vibrates and pulses in a variety of patterns to communicate with the patient.

Rogers’ vision is of “multiple bioelectronic devices all talking to one another and performing different functions at different relevant anatomical locations” is a frontier area that he will continue to pursue.

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Cancer Sensors

MSK developed sensor detects molecular signature of cancer; compared to human scent

Mijin Kim and Daniel Heller of the Nanomedicine Lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have developed an array of carbon nanotube sensors that can “sniff” cancer using AI.

The human nose can detect a trillion different scents, through hundreds of olfactory receptors. The pattern which odor molecules bind to which receptors creates a kind of molecular signature that the brain uses to recognize a scent.

Like the nose, the cancer detection technology uses an array of multiple sensors to detect a molecular signature of the disease, interpreted by machine learning.

Each nanotube sensor can detect many different molecules in a blood sample. By combining the many responses of the sensors, the technology creates a unique fluorescent pattern. The pattern can be recognized by an algorithm trained to identify the difference between a cancer fingerprint and a normal one.

In experiments conducted on ovarian cancer patient blood, the nanosensor detected ovarian cancer more accurately than current biomarker tests. The researchers believe that the technique could be adapted to detect multiple types of cancer using the same set of sensors without first identifying biomarkers.

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Sensors

Stent + soft sensor system continuously monitors hemodynamics

Georgia Tech‘s Woon-Hong Yeo and colleagues have developed a prototype smart stent and printed soft sensor system which can wirelessly monitor blood flow through the vascular system in real-time, without batteries or circuits.

The small and thin stent can be placed anywhere inside the body to continuously measure arterial pressure, pulse, and flow.

When the stent is implanted to prevent an artery from narrowing in atherosclerosis, it also constantly captures data, detecting stent defects, placement or blood flow issues. This could replace the need for angiograms, which are periodic, expensive, and use dyes and radiation.

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Diabetes Sensors Wearables

Microneedle wearable continuously monitors glucose, lactate, alcohol

UCSD Professor Joe Wang and colleagues have created a multiple biomarker monitor in the form of a painless microneedle patch, which Wang calls a “complete lab on the skin.” Glucose, lactate and alcohol levels are monitored simultaneously, in real time.

Microneedles enable the direct sample of interstitial fluid, which provides a similar measure of biochemical levels as blood.

The researchers gave the example of diabetes as a use case, as alcohol can lower glucose levels, and fatigue, measured by lactate, can influence the body’s ability to regulate glucose. Monitoring all three parameters at the same time could, therefore, better help diabetics manage their condition.

Five users wore the device on their upper arm, while exercising, eating, and drinking wine. Glucose levels were monitored simultaneously with either their alcohol or lactate levels. The glucose, alcohol and lactate measurements taken by the wearable patch closely matched the measurements taken by a commercial blood glucose monitor, Breathalyzer, and blood lactate measurement performed in the lab.

The company AquilX was established to commercialize the technology, with plans to add more sensors to the device, including those that can monitor medication levels.

Click to view UCSD video

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Asthma COVID 19 Sensors

Chest sensor detects worsening asthma, respiratory disease

The RESP Sensor from Strados labs received FDA clearance for early, remote detection of lung acoustic and ventilation pattern changes to predict worsening respiratory disease.

Lung sounds associated with asthma, COPD, heart failure and infectious diseases including COVID-19 are detected.

Frequency of wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and respiratory dynamics including rate and excursion are collected and anlyzed using a noninvasive chest sensor and cloud platform.

Individuals can monitor themselves at home, and the data can be integrated into telehealth, tele ICU, clinical trial management platforms and telemetry systems.

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Alexa Seniors Sensors

Fall sensor + Alexa Together can prolong independent senior living

Alexa Together has partnered with Vayyar, Sky Angel Care, and AltumView to detect falls. If a fall is detected, Alexa asks if help is needed, and then connects to an urgent response line, and alerts emergency contacts. 

Additional aging in place tools continue to be added to Alexa Together, including fall risk assessment, detection of a person waving for help, face recognition, restricted region monitoring, GPS, and activity statistics.

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Sensors

Touch sensors enable speech and sound to be understood


Amir Amedi and Reichman University colleagues have released a study describing touch-based technology to help people understand speech and sound – and to detect their location in the future.

The sensory substitution device can deliver speech simultaneously through audition and as fingertip vibrations which correspond to low frequencies extracted from the speech input.

40 non-native-English-speaking individuals with normal hearing were asked to repeat distorted sentences, simulating hearing via a cochlear implant. In some cases, vibrations on the fingertips corresponding to lower speech frequencies were added to the sentences. To simulate these frequencies, an audio tactile SSD was developed to convert sound frequencies to vibrations.

The level of understanding increased over a 45-minute training period accompanied by visual feedback. Participants were then able to understand a new set of sentences in a noisier environment and under difficult conditions. Performance improved significantly when the they received a corresponding vibration in addition to the audio.

Amedi believes that “the adult brain can also learn, in a relatively simple way, to use one combination of senses or another to better understand situations. This assumption is consistent with the institute’s previous findings showing that the brain is not divided into separate areas of specialization according to the senses, but rather according to the performance of tasks.”

Post doc Katarzyna Ciesla said that the next phase of our research is being carried out with people who are hearing-impaired and completely deaf. Sensory intervention will be individually tailored to each of the participants, as a combination of sound and vibration, or for the deaf, vibration alone before the implantation of a cochlear implant. This is aimed at establishing their understanding of speech with the help of a changing vibration.

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COVID 19 Sensors

Hopkins developed saliva sensor improves speed and accuracy of COVID detection

David Gracias and Ishan Barman at Johns Hopkins have developed a COVID 19 sensor which provides fast and accurate results using a drop of saliva placed on a device. No additional chemical modifications like molecular labeling or antibody functionalization are required, which could allow the sensor to be used in wearable devices.

Current PCR tests are highly accurate, but require complicated sample preparation, with results taking hours or even days to process in a laboratory. Rapid tests are less successful at detecting early infections and asymptomatic cases and can lead to erroneous results.

The Gracias/Barman developed sensor is nearly as sensitive as a PCR test and as convenient as a rapid antigen test. In a study, the sensor demonstrated 92% accuracy at detecting SARS-COV-2 in saliva samples—comparable to that of PCR tests. It was also highly successful at rapidly determining the presence of other viruses, including H1N1 and Zika.

The sensor material can be placed on any type of surface, from doorknobs and building entrances to masks and textiles, or potentially be integrated with a hand-held testing device for fast screenings at crowded places like airports or stadiums.

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Sensors

Zenan Bao further develops stretchable, potentially reshapeable, skin inspired electronics

Zhenan Bao Stanford Skin Inspired Electronics

Stanford’s Zhenan Bao and team have developed a stretchable, potentially reshapeable, wearable display that can allow a new way of interactive human-machine interface. “We can see the image and interact with it, and then the display can change according to our response” said Bao in a Stanford interview.

The display is made entirely of stretchy polymers, with a maximum brightness of twice that of a cellphone. It can be stretched to twice its original length without tearing.

Most light-emitting polymers are crack when stretched. Flexibility can be increased with elastic insulating materials, which decrease electrical conductivity, and require a dangerously high voltage.

Postdoc Zhitao Zhang discovered that a yellow-colored light-emitting polymer called SuperYellow became soft and pliable, and emitted brighter light when mixed with a type of polyurethane. The interconnected net of nanoscale fibers that make the SuperYellow stretchy don’t inhibit electricity flow. The group also created elastic red, green and blue light-emitting polymers.

The final display contains seven layers. Two outer layers are two substrates that encapsulate the device. Two inner electrode layers follow, each followed by charge transporting layers. The light-emitting layer is sandwiched in the center.

When electricity runs through the display, one electrode injects positive charges, called holes, into the light-emitting layer, while the other injects negatively charged electrons into it. When the two types of charges meet, they bond and go into an energetically excited state. Almost immediately, the state returns to normal by producing a photon.

The resulting all-polymer film can adhere to an arm or finger and doesn’t rip during bending or flexing. This allows wearable tracker displays to directly attach to skin.

Bao imagines “a display where you can both see and feel the three-dimensional object on the screen. This will be a completely new way to interact with each other remotely.”

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Sensors

Candy sensor prototype to monitor electrolytes, ovulation, kidney function through saliva

Korea University professors Beelee Chua and Donghyun Lee have developed a health monitoring sensor using saliva collected from a Tootsie Roll candy to detects salt and electrolyte levels, and monitor ovulation status and kidney health.

The easily accessible, low-waste sensor is simply licked.

To make the prototype sensor, a Tootsie roll was flattened and crevices were pressed into its surface to hold the saliva sample. Two thin, reusable aluminum tubes were inserted, acting as electrical contacts, connecting the candy electrode into a circuit with a current source and an output voltage detector. In preliminary tests, the device could measure salt levels that were physiologically relevant for health monitoring in a salt-water solution and artificial saliva. When covered in diluted artificial saliva, the sensor could reliably measure a change in voltage low enough to detect the 10 to 30 percent drop in salts that occurs when a person ovulates. While the maximum salt content in the artificial saliva samples was similar to that of a healthy adult, the researchers used calculations to estimate that conductivities three times higher, which signal a problem with the kidneys, would be within the measurable range of the device.

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Sensors

Wang’s fingertip sweat sensor detects glucose levels

Joe Wang fingertip glucose sensor

UCSD’s Joe Wang has developed a totally noninvasive sensor and algorithm to detect glucose levels from sweat on the fingertip. The painless, rapid, and accurate system could revolutionize diabetes management. The systemcombines a simple touch-based fingertip sweat electrochemical sensor with a new algorithm that addresses for personal variations toward the accurate estimate of blood glucose concentrations. It leverages the fast sweat rate on the fingertip for rapid assays of natural perspiration, without any sweat stimulation, along with the personalized sweat-response-to-blood concentration translation. A reliable estimate of the blood glucose sensing concentrations can thus be realized through a simple one-time personal precalibration. Such system training leads to a substantially improved accuracy with a Pearson correlation coefficient higher than 0.95, along with an overall mean absolute relative difference of 7.79%, with 100% paired points residing in the A + B region of the Clarke error grid. The speed and simplicity of the touch-based blood-free fingertip sweat assay, and the elimination of periodic blood calibrations, should lead to frequent self-testing of glucose and enhanced patient compliance toward the improved management of diabetes.

Click to view Joe Wang discussing wearable sensors at they 2019 ApplySci conference at Harvard Medical School.

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