title: Toward an implantable wireless cardiac monitoring platform integrated with an FDA-approved cardiovascular stent.
abstract: Continuous monitoring of blood pressure from a minimally invasive device in the pulmonary artery can serve as a diagnostic and early warning system for cardiac health. The foremost challenge in such a device is the wireless transfer of data and power from within the blood vessel to an external device while maintaining unrestricted flow through the artery. We present a miniaturized system, which is attached to the outer surface of a regular or drug-eluting FDA-approved stent. When expanded, the stent maintains a patent vessel lumen while allowing contact between the electronic sensors and the blood supply. The stent-based antenna can be used for both wireless telemetry and power transfer for the implanted electronics. Using the stent platform as both a radiating antenna and a structural support allows us to take advantage of an FDA-approved device whose safety and surgical procedure are well established. The electronics package has been reduced to an area of less than 1 mm(2), with a thickness under 300 mum. A minimally invasive implantation procedure allows the delivery of the stent-based implant in nearly any major vessel of the body. This article describes an initial prototype with two stents configured as a single dipole, a 2.4-GHz transmitter microchip, and a battery, and validates transcutaneous transmission through ex vivo and in vivo porcine studies. The results demonstrate the feasibility of a stent-based wireless platform for continuous monitoring of blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA. eychow@purdue.edu
authors.forename: Eric Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Brooke L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Beier
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Francino
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chappell
authors.forename: Pedro P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Irazoqui
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000601:surgery; D023421:Models, Animal; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D015607:Stents; D013552:Swine; D013686:Telemetry / Q000295:instrumentation; D016896:Treatment Outcome