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An implantable optical blood pressure sensor based on pulse transit time

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Abstract

An implantable sensor system for long-term monitoring of blood pressure is realized by taking advantage of the correlation between pulse transit time and blood pressure. The highly integrated implantable sensor module, fabricated using MEMS technologies, uses 8 light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a photodetector on chip level. The sensor is applied to large blood vessels, such as the carotid or femoral arteries, and allows extravascular measurement of highly-resolved photoplethysmograms. In addition, spectrophotometric approaches allow measurement of hemoglobin derivatives. For the calibration of blood pressure measurements, the sensor system has been successfully implemented in animal models.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Peter Liebetraut for his measurements analyzing the material properties of silicones. This work was financially supported by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), Laboratory for Micro-Optics, University of Freiburg, Georges-Koehler-Allee 102, Freiburg, 79110, Germany

    Jens Fiala, Philipp Bingger, Dominic Ruh, Hans Zappe & Andreas Seifert

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Medical Center, Hugstetter Str. 55, Freiburg, 79106, Germany

    Katharina Foerster, Claudia Heilmann & Friedhelm Beyersdorf

Authors
  1. Jens Fiala
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  2. Philipp Bingger
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  3. Dominic Ruh
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  4. Katharina Foerster
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  5. Claudia Heilmann
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  6. Friedhelm Beyersdorf
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  7. Hans Zappe
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  8. Andreas Seifert
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Correspondence to Jens Fiala.

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Fiala, J., Bingger, P., Ruh, D. et al. An implantable optical blood pressure sensor based on pulse transit time. Biomed Microdevices 15, 73–81 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-012-9689-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-012-9689-9

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