SBIR Phase I: Millimeter-Scale Wireless Sensor Node for Intracranial Pressure Monitoring

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是变革性的，带来毫米级外形尺寸的下一代计算平台。所提出的压力监测系统建立在模块化传感平台上，可以轻松更改传感模式以适应各种新的应用空间。因此，尽管该项目的最终目标是开发一种可植入的商业产品，帮助神经外科医生治疗脑积水患者，但这项研究的最终目标是实现真正的“智能微尘”计算机，开启下一代计算范式。具有能量自治和无线通信功能的毫米级传感器节点可以使智能传感器以最不显眼的方式连接并大容量分布。该项目的成功完成将标志着大规模实现物联网的一个重要里程碑，极大地加速毫米级无线传感器节点的技术采用和研究影响。跨学科和领域的学术界和工业界都将以前所未有的形式受益于新的计算时代。该小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目旨在开发毫米级体积的完整压力监测系统并将其商业化。可以从这种系统中受益的一项应用是脑积水患者的颅内压监测。脑积水是一种脑脊液在脑室区域积聚的疾病，会导致头部增大、癫痫和死亡。实用的脑积水治疗是通过手术植入医疗分流器，将多余的液体排出到身体其他部位。电流分流器的最大问题是缺乏嵌入式监控。神经外科医生目前依靠有根据的猜测来确定所需的阀门设置应该是或者是否被堵塞。如果压力设置不正确，就会增加多次就诊的费用，而且医生和患者对分流器的状态都缺乏了解。 所提出的压力监测系统具有毫米级的体积，可以预先安装在分流器储液器内，或用注射器针头注射到植入的分流器中，为患者和医生提供实时状态，从而可以防止分流器故障并更好地研究。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is transformational, bringing about the next generation of computing platform in millimeter-scale form factor. The proposed pressure monitoring system is built upon a modular sensing platform, allowing the sensing modality to be easily changed to befit a variety of new application space. Therefore, even though the end goal of this project is to develop a commercial product that can be implanted to aid neurosurgeons in treating patients with hydrocephalus, the ultimate goal of this research is to achieve a true 'smart dust' computer to open up the next generation of computing paradigm. Millimeter-scale sensor nodes complete with energy autonomy and wireless communication can enable smart sensors to be connected in the least obtrusive way and distributed in large volume. A successful completion of this project would mark a significant milestone towards massive-scale realization of internet of things, dramatically accelerating the technology adoption and research impact of millimeter-scale wireless sensor nodes. Both academic and industrial community across multiple disciplines and fields will benefit from the new era of computing in an unprecedented form factor. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop and commercialize a complete pressure monitoring system in millimeter-scale volume. One application that can benefit from such a system is intra-cranial pressure monitoring for hydrocephalus patients. Hydrocephalus, a condition which cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain's ventricle area, causes head enlargement, epilepsy, and death. Practical hydrocephalus treatment is the surgical implant of a medical shunt which relieves excess fluid into other body parts. The biggest issue with current shunts is the lack of embedded monitoring. Neurosurgeons currently resort to educated guesses of desired valve settings should be or whether it is clogged. This incurs added cost for multiple visits if the pressure setting is incorrect, and both doctors and patients are blind-sighted about the shunt's status. With a millimeter-scale volume, the proposed pressure monitoring system can be pre-installed inside the shunt's reservoir, or injected with a syringe needle into an implanted shunt to provide real-time status to patients and doctors such that shunt failures can be prevented and better studied.