Sensor apparatus and method of making same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023200734-A1
Application number	US-202318108808-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 13, 2023
Priority date	Oct 13, 2017
Publication date	Jun 29, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A sensor apparatus includes at least one substrate layer of an elastically deformable material, the substrate layer extending longitudinally between spaced apart ends thereof. A conductive layer is attached to and extends longitudinally between the spaced apart ends of the at least one substrate layer. The conductive layer includes an electrically conductive material adapted to form a strain gauge having an electrical resistance that varies based on deformation of the conductive layer in at least one direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a sensor apparatus, the sensor apparatus comprising:
at least one substrate layer of an elastically deformable material, the substrate layer extending longitudinally between spaced apart ends thereof;
a conductive layer disposed over the at least one substrate layer, the conductive layer including an electrically conductive material adapted to form a strain gauge having anistropic or isotropic compliance; and
a measurement system that includes a wireless communication interface; and
a remote device in communication with the wireless communication interface, the wireless communication interface being adapted to transmit measurement data wirelessly from the measurement system to the remote device.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein the measurement system includes circuitry configured to measure the electrical resistance between a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact of the sensor apparatus.

3 . The system of claim 1 wherein the measured electrical resistance comprises measurement data that is stored in a memory of the sensor apparatus.

4 . The system of claim 3 wherein the sensor apparatus further comprises a processor adapted to process the measurement data to provide processed measurement data, such as pressure and/or blood flow through a site where the sensor apparatus is mounted.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein the remote device is one of a smart phone, a server, or a wireless receiver.

6 . The system of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer of the sensor apparatus forms a piezoresistive strain gauge.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the piezoresistive strain gauge has an electrical resistance between respective ends of the conductive layer that varies based on deformation of the conductive layer in at least a longitudinal direction thereof.

8 . The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one substrate layer further comprises a plurality of substrate layers of the elastically deformable material, the conductive layer being sandwiched between at least two substrate layers.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the elastically deformable material of each of the substrate layers comprises polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and the electrically conductive material of the conductive layer comprises electrically conductive particles integrated with PDMS.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of substrate layers and the conductive layer are configured to exhibit anisotropic compliance to enable deformation along a given direction and inhibit deformation along a direction transverse to the given direction.

11 . The system of claim 11 , wherein each of the substrate layers and the conductive layer includes a plurality of substantially-parallel strands of its material arranged to extend in a direction that is parallel or transverse to the given direction, the direction of the strands and spacing between strands in each respective layer defining the anisotropic compliance of the apparatus along respective strand directions.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the given direction is longitudinal or radial.

13 . A method comprising the steps of:
advancing the sensor apparatus of claim 1 into a patient; mounting the sensor apparatus to a biological surface of the subject; and generating, by the sensor apparatus, one or more strain measurements associated with the biological surface.

14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the biological surface is a vessel wall.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of monitoring a condition internal to the biological surface.

16 . The method of claim 15 wherein the monitoring is performed by the measurement system of the sensor apparatus.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein an alert is generated by the sensor apparatus in response to a dysfunction detected by the measurement system.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising the step of communicating the alert to the patient and/or one or more caregivers.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of performing an intervention based on the generated alert.

Assignees

• Univ Case Western Reserve
• The United States As Represented By The Dept Of Veterans Affairs

Inventors

• Majerus Steve Ja
• Dunning Jeremy
• Bogie Katherine M
• Potkay Joseph A

Classifications

• A61B2562/12

  Manufacturing methods specially adapted for producing sensors for in-vivo measurements · CPC title

• A61B5/02444 Primary

  Details of sensor (A61B5/02427 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/6876

  Blood vessel · CPC title

• G01L9/0052

  of piezoresistive elements (circuits therefor G01L9/06) · CPC title

• A61B5/683 Primary

  Means for maintaining contact with the body (A61B5/6802 takes precedence) · CPC title