A Three Tier Bioimplantable Sensor Monitoring Platform

制造廉价微型生物植入物的可能性促使研究界尝试将其用于对患者的持续监测。各种各样的传感器已经被报道，包括旨在监测血压、血糖水平、温度等的设备。然而，目前有效使用这些技术的一个障碍是远程（外部）从深度生物植入的传感器收集数据，同时对患者生命造成最小影响的问题（例如，不需要电缆，更换植入的电池等）。本文提出了一种解决这个问题的新方法。这个想法包括一个三层网络，包括传感器+超声波换能器植入物，一个皮下植入的转发器以超声波频率与植入物通信，一个外部转发器通过感应耦合与皮下植入的转发器通信，外部以微波频率通信。提出的网络将使未来的生物植入式设备的设计者能够完全专注于他们的特定传感器的操作，而不必担心与它进行远程通信的问题。将任何传感器连接到所提出的系统将是一件相对简单的事情。在这个项目中进行的工作将有益于医学和生物工程研究界的研究人员，因为它将有助于加快目前远程监测患者健康的努力。

The possibility of creating cheap miniature bioimplants has led the research community to attempt to use these in the continuous monitoring of patients. A variety of sensors have been reported for the purpose, including devices aimed at monitoring blood pressure, sugar levels, temperature, etc. However, one of the current hurdles to the effective use of these technologies is the problem of remotely (externally) gathering data from deeply bio-implanted sensors whilst causing minimum impact to the lives of the patients (e.g. without the need for cables, replacing implanted batteries, etc). A novel solution to this problem is proposed here. The idea consists of a Three-Tier Network comprising sensor + ultrasonic transducer implants, a subcutaneously implanted transponder that communicates with the implants at ultrasonic frequencies and an external transponder that communicates with the subcutaneously implanted transponder via inductive coupling and externally at microwave frequencies. The network proposed will enable future designers of bioimplantable devices to focus solely on their particular sensor's operation, without having to worry about the problematic task of communicating remotely with it. Interfacing any sensor to the system proposed will be a relatively simple matter. The work carried out in this project will be of benefit to researchers in the medical and bioengineering research community as it will help accelerate the current effort to remotely monitor the health of patients.