Sensor apparatus and method of making same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024324958-A1
Application number	US-202418743201-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 14, 2024
Priority date	Oct 13, 2017
Publication date	Oct 3, 2024
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 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.

2 . The sensor apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a measurement system connected to the sensor apparatus, the measurement system including circuitry configured to measure the electrical resistance between a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact of the sensor apparatus.

3 . The sensor apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the measured electrical resistance comprises measurement data that is stored in a memory of the measurement system.

4 . The sensor apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the measurement system 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 sensor apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the conductive layer of the sensor apparatus forms a piezoresistive strain gauge.

6 . The sensor apparatus of claim 5 , 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.

7 . The sensor apparatus 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.

8 . The sensor apparatus of claim 7 , 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.

9 . The sensor apparatus of claim 7 , 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.

10 . The sensor apparatus of claim 9 , 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.

11 . The sensor apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the given direction is longitudinal or radial.

12 . 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.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the biological surface is a vessel wall.

14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising the step of monitoring a condition internal to the biological surface.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the monitoring is performed by the measurement system of the sensor apparatus.

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

• G01L9/06

  of piezo-resistive devices · CPC title

• G01L9/0052

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

• A61B2562/12

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

• A61B5/026

  Measuring blood flow {(A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence)} · CPC title

• A61B5/6876

  Blood vessel · CPC title