In situ and ex vivo evaluation of a wireless magnetoelastic biliary stent monitoring system

Abstract

This paper presents the in situ and ex vivo evaluation of a system that wirelessly monitors the accumulation of intimal tissue and sludge in a biliary stent. The sensing element, located within the stent, is a magnetoelastic resonator that is queried by a wireless radio frequency signal. The in situ testing uses a commercially-available self-expanding biliary stent enhanced with a 1 mm × 25 mm magnetoelastic ribbon sensor (formed from Metglas™ 2605SA1). The stent has a conformal magnetic layer (consisting of strontium ferrite particles suspended in polydimethylsiloxane) that biases the sensor. The external interrogation module is able to acquire a signal from the sensor from a distance of at least 5 cm while the sensor is implanted in a porcine carcass and loaded with biological fluids. The ex vivo testing uses bile harvested from the porcine carcass. The response of a 1 mm × 25 mm magnetoelastic ribbon sensor is first calibrated with fluids of known density and viscosity, and the calibrated sensor is used to estimate that the viscosity of the harvested bile is 2.7–3.7 cP. The test results presented in this paper illustrate the fundamental usability of the system when the sensor is implanted, loaded by biological fluids, and interrogated in a surgical setup.