Medical Design Briefs - May 2023 - 26

The proposed sensor aims to help patients who suffer from muscle atrophy monitor changes to their health in a
more convenient way. (Credit: Getty Images)
changes in the human body is easier says
than done. Rice and her co-author
Asimina Kiourti, a professor in electrical
and computer engineering at Ohio
State, designed the device to work by employing
two coils, one that transmits and
one that receives, as well as a conductor
made out of e-threads that run along the
fabric in a distinct zig-zag pattern.
Although the final product resembles
a blood pressure cuff, Rice says it
was originally a challenge to find a pattern
that would allow for a wide range
of changes to the size of the sensor's
loop so it would be able to fit a large
portion of the population.
" When we first proposed the sensor,
we didn't realize that we would need a
stretchable material until we realized
that the person's limbs were going to
be changing, " she says. " We need a sensor
that can change and flex, but it also
needs to be conformal. "
After some trial and error, they
found that while sewing in a straight
line would limit the sleeve's elasticity, a
zigzag pattern was ideal for amplifying
it. This same novel pattern is the reason
the sensor may be scalable across
multiple different body parts or even
several locations on the same limb.
Although the wearable is still years
away from implementation, the study
notes that the next major leap would
most likely be to connect the device to
a mobile app, one that could be used
to record and deliver health information
directly to healthcare providers.
And to improve life for future patients
both on Earth and in space,
Rice is looking forward to combining
the sensor with other kinds of devices
for detecting and monitoring health
issues, such as a tool for detecting
bone loss.
" In the future, we would like to integrate
more sensors and even more capabilities
with our wearable, " Rice says.
This work was supported by NASA.
This article was written by Tatyana
Woodall, Ohio State News. For more information,
visit https://news.osu.edu.
Contact Allyanna Rice at rice.1091@osu.
edu.
Plastic Transistor Amplifies Biochemical Sensing Signal
The research was published in the
The technology paves the
way for sensitive
bioelectronic diagnostics.
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
The molecules in our bodies are in
constant communication. Some of
these molecules provide a biochemical
fingerprint that could indicate how a
wound is healing, whether or not a
cancer treatment is working, or whether
a virus has invaded the body. If we
could sense these signals in real time
with high sensitivity, then we might be
able to recognize health problems faster
and even monitor disease as
it progresses.
26
Northwestern University researchers
have developed a new technology that
makes it easier to eavesdrop on our
body's inner conversations.
While the body's chemical signals are
incredibly faint - making them difficult
to detect and analyze - the researchers
have developed a new method that
boosts signals by more than 1,000 times.
Transistors, the building block of electronics,
can boost weak signals to provide
an amplified output. The new approach
makes signals easier to detect
without complex and bulky electronics.
By enabling amplification of weak biochemical
signals, the new approach
brings modern medicine one step closer
to real-time, on-site diagnostics and disease
monitoring.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
journal Nature Communications.
" If we could reliably measure biochemical
signals in the body, we could
incorporate those sensors into wearable
technologies or implants that have a
small footprint, less burden, and don't
require expensive electronics, " says
Northwestern's Jonathan Rivnay, the
study's senior author. " But extracting
high-quality signals has remained a challenge.
With limited power and space inside
the body, you need to find ways to
amplify those signals. "
Rivnay is a professor of biomedical engineering
at Northwestern's McCormick
School of Engineering. Xudong Ji, a
post-doctoral researcher in Rivnay's laboratory,
is the paper's first author.
Medical Design Briefs, May 2023

https://news.osu.edu http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com

Medical Design Briefs - May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Medical Design Briefs - May 2023