IV-Lab · In-vessel implantable smart sensing device for personalised medicine

The IV-Lab project aims at designing and manufacturing a miniaturized sensing device implantable in the blood vessel for monitoring the health status of patients. The micro-sensor-system would implement a body-embedded system with multiple sensing capabilities, targeting hemodynamic and biochemical parameters, once implanted into blood vessels (vein and/or arterial blood vessels) of vulnerable patients with cardiovascular diseases. The final goal of the proposal aims at responding the main requests from the Pathfinder Heath work program, that is to endow people with unperceivable sensors, which will allow 1. the continuous long-term monitoring of the health status, and 2. the diagnosis and personalized medical intervention.Once in the vessel, the sensor will be completely unobtrusive and capable of continuous monitoring. The implanted system will be connected with (and powered by) external data collection and communication system coupled trough standardized wireless technology (i.e. NFC), or even simply by a smartphone in case of asynchronous on-demand monitoring. The device will have miniaturized and shape size allowing the placemen inside veins and arteries without impairing the blood flow, and will be provided with multiple different sensors, able to work in a continuous or asynchronous way, depending on the specific use cases. This device will find important applications in the field of cardiovascular disease, in particular in those patients in which the detection of hemodynamic behavior and specific biomarkers could reduce the re-hospitalization and mortality (i.e. heart failure). Moreover, in perspective, the system will make possible to monitor the development and outcome of different disease, allowing a prompt and tailored treatment.