Implantable Sensor Could Measure Bodily Functions -- and then Safely Biodegrade
Published:11 Nov.2020 Source:Penn State
Sensors that monitor a patient's condition during and after medical procedures can be expensive, uncomfortable and even dangerous. Now, an international team of researchers has designed a highly sensitive flexible gas sensor that can be implanted in the body -- and, after it's no longer needed, safely biodegrade into materials that are absorbed by the body.
In a study, the researchers reported they designed a flexible and implantable sensor that can monitor various forms of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas in the body. Monitoring these types of gases is important because they can play either a beneficial or, sometimes, harmful role in human health, according to Huanyu "Larry" Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics and an affiliate of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences.