Wireless surface mountable sensors and actuators

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021338081-A1
Application number	US-202117372962-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 12, 2021
Priority date	Jan 27, 2017
Publication date	Nov 4, 2021
Grant date	—

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, the biologically interactive devices each 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 said plurality of biologically interactive devices to a remote receiver.

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 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 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

• A61B5/7275

  Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor · CPC title

• A61B5/0002

  Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network (endoradiosondes A61B5/07) · CPC title

• A61B5/01

  Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20) · CPC title

• A61B5/015

  By temperature mapping of body part · CPC title