Blood pressure sensor for small arteries of the heart (download technical paper)
- Measures blood pressure and microvascular resistance near heart
- Arteries measure 2-3mm external diameter, device occupying more than ½ the diameter
will degrade accuracy
- Guide wire is 0.355mm diameter. MEMS device is just 0.25mm wide x 1.1mm long and
0.07mm thick.
One of the challenges of invasive monitoring of the body is in making parts small
enough to allow them to fit into the targeted environment. This application is in
the small arteries of the heart. Here the arteries start at 2 to 3 mm external diameter
and rapidly bifurcate into progressively smaller arteries in the sub-millimeter
range. A catheter that occupies more than ½ the area of the vessel will have a detrimental
impact on accuracy of the measurement.
Because of these concerns, the medical industry needed a pressure sensor fabricated
in a catheter guide-wire to allow accurate measurements of pressure in the Coronary
arteries. The guide wire is 0.355 mm in diameter and requires a sensing element
that can be housed with lead-outs, housing, and encapsulation within that diameter.The
sensor is a quarter mm wide, 1.1 mm long and .07 mm thick.
Ultra-miniature catheter tip sensor (top view and side view)
Source: Silicon Microstructures Inc.
Source: Silicon Microstructures Inc.
For more information contact SMI sales at sales@si-micro.com.