Wireless surface mountable sensors and actuators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11826121-B2
Application number	US-202117372962-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2021
Priority date	Jan 27, 2017
Publication date	Nov 28, 2023
Grant date	Nov 28, 2023

Abstract

Provided herein are medical devices comprising a plurality of biologically interactive devices configured for interacting with a large area biological surface. The biologically interactive devices each may comprise a sensor for measuring a physiological parameter. A wireless controller is configured to wirelessly operate the plurality of biologically interactive devices. A wireless transmitter is configured for wirelessly communicating an output from said plurality of biologically interactive devices to a remote receiver. The medical devices are particularly suited for measuring one or both of pressure and temperature, with compatibility for incorporating additional sensors of interest.

First claim

We claim:

1. A medical device, comprising:
a plurality of biologically interactive devices configured for interacting with a large area biological surface, each of the biologically interactive devices comprising a sensor for measuring a physiological parameter of the biological surface;
a wireless controller configured to wirelessly operate the plurality of biologically interactive devices; and
a wireless transmitter for wirelessly communicating an output from the plurality of biologically interactive devices to a remote receiver;
wherein the plurality of biologically interactive devices are selected and spatially positioned so as to achieve an average physiological parameter spatial resolution at least as good as 5 cm over the biological surface.

2. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the physiological parameter is pressure, temperature, galvanic skin response, impedance, thermal transport, sweat release, blood flow, blood oxygenation, or any combination thereof.

3. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the physiological parameter is pressure, temperature, or pressure and temperature.

4. The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising a near field communication chip to provide wireless power delivery to said sensors and wireless data communication between the biologically interactive devices and the wireless controller.

5. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the wireless controller provides two-way communication with the plurality of biologically interactive devices to acquire physiological parameter data from the plurality of sensors and to operate the plurality of biologically interactive devices.

6. The medical device of claim 5 , wherein the wireless controller comprises a long-range reader.

7. The medical device of claim 5 , wherein the wireless controller is configured to acquire a continuous data stream from said medical device and generate a spatio-temporal map of one or more physiological parameters detected by the sensors.

8. The medical device of claim 1 , having a wireless transmission and receipt range that is greater than or equal to 10 cm.

9. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of biologically interactive devices is directly or indirectly skin-mounted and provides a spatial distribution map of the physiological parameter.

10. The medical device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of biologically interactive devices are configured to directly connect to a skin surface of a living animal.

11. The medical device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of biologically interactive devices are embedded or connected to a garment, wherein the garment is configured to be worn by a living animal to provide the plurality of biologically interactive devices adjacent to a skin surface.

12. The medical device of claim 1 , comprising at least 20 biologically interactive devices.

13. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein each biologically interactive device comprises:
an integrated circuit chip for NFC communication;
a wireless energy harvester;
a temperature sensor;
an analog to digital converter; and
a pressure sensor.

14. The medical device of claim 13 , wherein the pressure sensor comprises a silicon pressure sensor formed from an ultrathin spiral shape layer of monocrystalline silicon.

15. The medical device of claim 13 , wherein the pressure sensor comprises a layer of silicon positioned between a top polymer layer and a bottom polymer layer.

16. The medical device of claim 13 , further comprising a magnetic inductive loop antenna configured to wirelessly interface with an external reader antenna.

17. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein each biologically interactive device has:
a footprint that is less than or equal to 25 cm 2 ; and
a thickness that is less than or equal to 1 cm.

18. The medical device of claim 1 , having:
a temperature precision of at least 0.1° C.;
a thermal mass density that is less than that of skin and less than 75 μJ/mm 2 /K; and
a thermal equilibrium response time that is less than or equal to 3 seconds.

19. The medical device of claim 1 , having a thickness, flexibility, elasticity and mass selected to achieve conformal contract with an underyling skin surface.

20. The medical device of claim 19 , wherein the conformal contact is for a user time period that is between 1 minute and 1 day.

21. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein each biologically interactive device is multifunctional and measures at least temperature and pressure.

22. The medical device of claim 1 , wherein each biologically interactive device measures at least one additional parameter selected from the group consisting of: oxygen level, electric potential, heart rate, respiration rate, hypovolemia, and optical signal.

23. The medical device of claim 1 , being usable for a medical application selected from the group consisting of health evaluation, sleep evaluation, ulcer risk mitigation, sudden infant death syndrome warning, hyperthermia and hypothermia.

24. The medical device of claim 1 , being usable for full-body spatio-temporal mapping of the physiological parameter over a skin surface area.

25. The medical device of claim 24 , wherein the skin surface area is from a human, a cow, a horse, a pig, a bird, a dog, a cat, a rodent, or a sea animal.

26. The medical device of claim 1 , further comprising an alert or an alarm configured to signal a warning condition for a measured or a calculated physiological parameter that is outside a user-selected safe value.

27. The medical device of claim 1 , being battery-free.

Assignees

• Univ Northwestern
• Univ Illinois

Inventors

• Rogers John A
• Han Seungyong
• Won Sang Min
• Kim Jeonghyun

Classifications

• A61B5/24

  Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof · CPC title

• A61B5/0024 Primary

  for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network · CPC title

• A61B5/002

  Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building (A61B5/0017 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/02055

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature · CPC title

• A61B5/6804

  Garments; Clothes · CPC title