Biomedical Systems for Vascular Health

Goals

Our goal is to create a new division of VIP undergraduate students focused on developing biomedical technology to contribute to vascular health monitoring and disease diagnosis. They will work in a multidisciplinary setting to gain hands-on experience and confidence in designing, fabricating, testing and analyzing devices. We aim to design teams to work on a variety of sub-projects so students from diverse backgrounds can contribute and learn in a welcoming environment.

Issues Involved or Addressed

The challenges faced in the field of vascular electronics are multifaceted, as these devices are limited by materials, size, device deployment, and more. Students on this VIP team would have the opportunity to address many of these issues. Example challenges and projects include: Challenge: Stents must be small and low profile enough to not obstruct the blood flow in an artery. They must also provide enough radial force to keep the artery open with plaque and scar tissue pushing down on it. The stent must also play the role of an inductor when attached to the capacitive sensor. Project: – Designing and fabricating stents with different stent struts – Testing them to find the most mechanically durable design Challenge: Sensors that integrate into the stent must be capacitors to create a resonant circuit with the stent. These sensors must be biocompatible, low-profile, and have high sensitivity. Project: – Optimize sensor designs and fabrication for highest sensitivity – Run preliminary in vitro testing to ensure sensor-stent functionality

Partners/Sponsors

National Science Foundation, GT IEN Center for Human-Centric Interfaces and Engineering, and Wis Medical Inc.