title: Ultrathin Injectable Sensors of Temperature, Thermal Conductivity, and Heat Capacity for Cardiac Ablation Monitoring.
abstract: Knowledge of the distributions of temperature in cardiac tissue during and after ablation is important in advancing a basic understanding of this process, and for improving its efficacy in treating arrhythmias. Technologies that enable real-time temperature detection and thermal characterization in the transmural direction can help to predict the depths and sizes of lesion that form. Herein, materials and designs for an injectable device platform that supports precision sensors of temperature and thermal transport properties distributed along the length of an ultrathin and flexible needle-type polymer substrate are introduced. The resulting system can insert into the myocardial tissue, in a minimally invasive manner, to monitor both radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation, in a manner that has no measurable effects on the natural mechanical motions of the heart. The measurement results exhibit excellent agreement with thermal simulations, thereby providing improved insights into lesion transmurality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Ahyeon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gutbrod
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering and Soft Matter Research Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.|Department of Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Chaofeng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Richard Chad
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Gunchul
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Solid Mechanics, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China.
authors.forename: Yuhang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Seung-Kyun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
authors.forename: Igor R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Efimov
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006321:Heart; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009206:Myocardium; D011817:Rabbits; D013696:Temperature; D013814:Thermal Conductivity
keywords: cardiac ablation monitoring; flexible thermal sensors; lesion transmurality prediction; thermal property detection; transmural thermal detection