Implantable Energy Harvesting Stents for Transcutaneous Wireless Monitoring of Peripheral Artery Disease

More than five million adults in U.S. are affected by the peripheral artery disease. Current wireless stent monitors are unsuitable to use in the thigh. In this paper, wireless powering and communication with implanted stents were investigated. Specifically, we investigated the effects of thigh tissue morphology and tissue thickness variations on wireless power gain and electromagnetic safety when using skin-contact touch probe antennas. Thigh simulation models were derived from anthropometric data for the diseased population. Power gain and specific absorption rate were determined for each variation. To corroborate human model simulation results, a power-to-frequency converter was designed, benchmarked, and implanted within ex vivo porcine tissue. The experiments showed the most realistic simulations reported so far that have the best agreement with measured results. This paper indicates that touch probe powered stent systems can safely deliver significant power to an implant. This research enables frequent at-home monitoring to replace costly in-hospital quarterly check-ups.