Medical Sensor Applications of Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR)

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Koronis Biomedical Technologies (KBT) proposes to develop a novel tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensor for use in medical devices. TMR technology delivers improvements in magnetic sensor size, sensitivity, and noise rejection that represent an opportunity to significantly enhance the performance of a variety of medical devices that currently rely on traditional magnetic sensors. These products include pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, neurostimulators, and drug pumps. Further applications include probe localization, audio transmission, and telemetry. Integrating TMR sensors into medical devices will result in smaller, more powerful, and more efficient systems. This is evidenced by TMR's adoption in the magnetic recording industry, which has increased magnetic data storage densities by three orders of magnitude through the development of TMR read heads. KBT will design, fabricate, and test an optimized TMR sensor, adapting this technology for use in medical applications. A hearing aid telecoil replacement testbed application that will demonstrate the ability of TMR sensors to receive magnetic audio signals will be developed and tested. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The development of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) technology has had a transformative impact on the magnetic recording industry by dramatically increasing storage density using smaller, more sensitive, and more noise resistant magnetic sensors. This technology can be applied to similarly improve medical devices, including hearing aid telecoils. The adaption of TMR sensors for these devices will place sensors with superior performance in very small and previously inaccessible locations.