title: Photonic sensing of arterial distension.
abstract: Most cardiovascular diseases, such as arteriosclerosis and hypertension, are directly linked to pathological changes in hemodynamics, i.e. the complex coupling of blood pressure, blood flow and arterial distension. To improve the current understanding of cardiovascular diseases and pave the way for novel cardiovascular diagnostics, innovative tools are required that measure pressure, flow, and distension waveforms with yet unattained spatiotemporal resolution. In this context, miniaturized implantable solutions for continuously measuring these parameters over the long-term are of particular interest. We present here an implantable photonic sensor system capable of sensing arterial wall movements of a few hundred micronsin vivowith sub-micron resolution, a precision in the micrometer range and a temporal resolution of 10 kHz. The photonic measurement principle is based on transmission photoplethysmography with stretchable optoelectronic sensors applied directly to large systemic arteries. The presented photonic sensor system expands the toolbox of cardiovascular measurement techniques and makes these key vital parameters continuously accessible over the long-term. In the near term, this new approach offers a tool for clinical research, and as a perspective, a continuous long-term monitoring system that enables novel diagnostic methods in arteriosclerosis and hypertension research that follow the trend in quantifying cardiovascular diseases by measuring arterial stiffness and more generally analyzing pulse contours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ruh
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sivaraman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruhhammer
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Theodor
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lebrecht
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dirk
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Foerster
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heilmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedhelm
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beyersdorf
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zappe
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Germany; CIC nanoGUNE, San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seifert
keywords: (170.0170) Medical optics and biotechnology; (170.3660) Light propagation in tissues; (170.4580) Optical diagnostics for medicine; (230.3990) Micro-optical devices; (230.4685) Optical microelectromechanical devices; (280.4788) Optical sensing and sensors