Sensors and Circuits on Catheters (Catheter)

Themes: Health and Wellbeing

The development of minimal invasive surgery and diagnostic techniques has greatly reduced the impact that medical procedures have on patients. Patients recover faster, feel less pain and have a lower risk for complications.

So far the instruments used in these procedures are basically mechanical tools. It is the aim of this and other similar projects to bring highly miniaturized circuits, sensors and actuators to the tip of the catheters and other minimal invasive surgical instruments. For the surgeon it will bring enhanced vision, sensing of tissue properties and texture and better diagnostics, as well as the possibility to accurately manipulate delicate tissues.

The development of new flexible electronic fabrication techniques has made it possible to fold these tiny electronic circuits and sensors in and around these medical instruments. In this project an integration platform was developed which allows for batch-mode, wafer-scale fabrication of Circuits and Sensors which are connected with highly flexible interconnects. In a joint project with the group Minimal Invasive Surgery and Interventional Techniques from the Department Biomedical Engineering (3mE) several demonstrators were fabricated which high-light the potential of this technology.