Stents are specially designed mesh, metal tubes that are inserted into a blood vessel to widen blocked or narrowed coronary arteries.
But once this device is inserted it is difficult to tell if it is working correctly. There is no information about what’s going on inside the blood vessel.
Now a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an implant that transmits blood flow data to an external computer or mobile device.
Just like a regular artery stent, this smart stent can be surgically inserted to maintain proper blood flow. It has an embedded sensor and antenna that passively receives and returns a signal. However, it does not contain any circuit or battery that needs to be charged or replaced.
Magnetic fields are used to transfer energy to the stent wirelessly
Once it is powered up, its sensors can then take blood flow readings and transmit the information outside the body in the form of radio signals. These signals are then deciphered by the clinicians to know what’s going on inside the blood vessel…if it is working properly or the patient is developing more clots.
The device relayed accurate data in animal trials where a device was placed inside a rabbit’s iliac artery. However, more research is needed to develop this further before use in humans.
