On the Design of Passive Resonant Circuits to Measure Local Pulse Wave Velocity in a Stent.

In-stent restenosis is a frequent complication after stent implantation. This article investigates the design of a passive sensor system to be integrated into a stent for the detection of an in-stent restenosis by measuring the local pulse wave velocity (PWV). The proposed system uses two resonant circuits consisting of a capacitive pressure sensor and a coil as transponders. The pressure sensors are located at the proximal and distal end of the stent. An alternating external magnetic field with a constant frequency is applied such that the resonance frequencies of the transponders cross the excitation frequency when the pulse wave passes. The time delay between the resonances at the transponders can be captured to obtain the PWV. A model for the measurement system and a correlation between transponder design parameters and minimal resolvable time delay are derived. This correlation is based on the criterion that the 3 dB bandwidth of the transponder resonances may not overlap in the measurement time interval. This correlation can be used to design and analyze a transponder system for the proposed measurement system. In an experiment, in which the pressure sensors have been emulated by varactor diodes, it could be shown that the model is valid and that the criterion is suitable. Finally, the relevant design parameters of the transponders have been identified and their limitations investigated.

A bifrequent passive sensor system for measurement of the pulse wave velocity in a stent.

In-stent restenosis (ISR) is a frequent complication after stent implantation. Recently, a passive sensor system for integration into a stent has been presented, which is designed to detect an ISR early by measuring the local pulse wave velocity (PWV). This system is based on two pressure sensitive transponders, the resonance frequency of which hits the frequency of a magnetic field generated by an externally applied transceiver coil during a pulse cycle. This method is limited in applicability by the largest PWV it can measure. In this contribution a modified sensor system is investigated, which operates at two separate frequencies for each transponder. It has been shown that this modification solves the problem of limited PWV measurement range. Additionally, the previously developed model was shown to be valid for bifrequent operation. Furthermore, the influence of the system parameters on measurement precision have been investigated and verified in simulations.

Concept and evaluation of an endaurally insertable middle-ear implant.

A concept for a partially implantable hearing device, for which the power supply and signal transmission are provided by an optical transmission path, is evaluated. The actuator is designed to fit into the round-window niche and to couple directly to the round-window membrane. Implantable hearing aids can be a suitable solution in the case of severe hearing loss, where conventional hearing aids often fail. However, the surgical effort for an implantation is comparatively high. Therefore, the objective of our work was to provide a hearing system which combines reliable coupling to the auditory system with an easy implantation technique. The actuator was designed as a piezoelectric thin-film cantilever. The optical transmission path was realised using an infrared light-emitting diode combined with an active receiver circuit. For a voltage of 1V, the unloaded actuator presents displacement amplitudes of 1µm up to a stimulus frequency of 25kHz and forces up to 0.2mN. Proportionally larger forces can be achieved by stacking single actuators. The overall transmission loss from the electrical input of the light-emitting diode driver to the mechanical output of the unloaded actuator was less than 25dB at 1kHz and maximum output.

Admittance matrix of a trapezoidal piezoelectric heterogeneous bimorph.

Bimorph structures are a standard method for transforming the high force of piezoelectric materials into a large deflection. In micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) applications, it is preferable to use structures consisting of a passive substrate (usually silicon) and one or more piezoelectric layers on the top. Such structures are called heterogeneous bimorphs or enakemesomorphs. In some MEMS applications- for example, for use as acoustic transducers-it is desirable to arrange such heterogeneous bimorphs in a circular shape, which results in trapezoidal cantilever structures. In this paper, an analytic dynamic description of such actuators is obtained. The resulting model is proved to be compatible with existing models for heterogeneous bimorphs with constant width. A comparison to a finite element analysis model of an exemplary layout shows divergences wholly within the same range as found for published models for constant-width structures.