Photonic principle to determine the dynamics of the cardiovascular system
CIC nanoGUNE Seminars
- Speaker
-
Andreas Seifert, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- When
-
2014/12/09
12:00 - Place
- nanoGUNE seminar room, Tolosa Hiribidea 76, Donostia - San Sebastian
- Add to calendar
- iCal
**Host** : J.M. Pitarke
Almost every third person worldwide dies from cardiovascular diseases, and
even more than 40 % in high income countries. Today’s practice of measuring
systolic and diastolic blood pressure does not give any information about the
biomechanics of the arterial system. The idea of the presented research
focuses on a novel photonic method to measure the small arterial distensions
in vivo, which encode the stiffness of the arterial wall. The measurement
principle is based on transmission photoplethysmography, and transfers this
technique to a new field of application – large arteries. To understand
photon propagation through arteries, we solved the Radiative Transfer Equation
by Monte Carlo methods for the first time on multilayered cylinders. The
simulations are in excellent compliance with ex vivo as well as in vivo
experiments. To match the mechanical properties of biological tissue, the
implantable sensor is realized by integration of chiplevel optoelectronics
into polymeric substrates. The achieved precision of 5 μ̧m and sub-micron
resolution outperforms all state-of-the-art techniques in sensing arterial
distension. In the near term, this new approach offers a tool for clinical
research, and as a perspective, a 24/7 monitoring system that makes key vital
parameters, such as heart rate, arterial stiffness and more generally
thedynamics of the arterial system, continuously accessible.