Can a New Tiny Sensor Really Monitor Heart Cells?

A team of engineers and scientists have developed a new sensor that can monitor heart cells with minimal disruption. Researchers from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Women’s Medical University and Riken in Japan produced the device, which is a soft nanomesh sensor that comes in direct contact with the heart tissue. The idea behind the sensor was conceived by Sunghoon Lee, a researcher at the University of Tokyo. Lee along with other collaborators supplied a healthy culture of cardiomyocytes derived from human stem cells. The researchers placed the nanomesh sensor on the top of the cell culture in a complex process, which involved removing and adding liquid medium at the proper times, to orient the device. MD&M West is where serious professionals find the technologies, education, and connections to stay ahead in the global medical manufacturing community and will be in Anaheim, from Feb. 5-7.  The sensors are made through a process called electro-spinning. When this happens, ultrafine polyurethane strands are extruded into a flat sheet, similar to how some common 3D printers work. Researchers then say this spiderweb like sheet is then coated in parylene, a type of plastic, to strengthen it. From there, the parylene on certain sections of the mesh is removed by a dry etching process with a stencil. Gold is then applied to these areas to make the sensor probes and communication wires. Researchers said that additional parylene isolates...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Implants R & D Source Type: news