Mobile Health

Implantable medical devices are a growing technology with a high potential for improving patient’s life and the quality of healthcare. Radiofrequency technology for implantable medical devices promises many benefits for both patients and caregivers. Our research in this field aims at the development of novel antennas to be implanted inside the human body as part of implantable biomedical devices used for wireless telemetry (intra-cranial pressure sensors, orthopedic implants, cochlear implants e.t.c.) and the establishment of a reliable communication link with external control/monitoring devices. Our work is supported by a grant on “Implantable and ingestible medical devices (IIMDs): optimal-performance-oriented design and evaluation methodology, DEM-II-MED” within the framework of the Program EXCELLENCE, and can be summarized as follows.

  • Design of novel antennas with emphasis on miniature size and optimized resonance, radiation, biocompatibility and safety performance.
  • Development of a novel accelerated methodology for application-specific antenna design, andoptimization of antenna design to suit specific prototype fabrication approaches.
  • Prototype fabrication of miniature antennas for which tolerance to fabrication issues (e.g. soldering bumps, uncertainties in glue thickness and permittivity e.t.c.) is highly critical.
  • Improvement of the quality of biomedical telemetry in terms of the wireless communication link between the implanted device and the external control/monitoring device.
  • Experimental testing of miniature antenna structures in anatomical phantoms and live model animals.
  • Development of energy harvesting techniques through arterial wall deformation towards a self-powered implantable electromagnetic device for cardiovascular system monitoring.