Magneto-harmonic pressure sensor for biomedical applications

A wireless and passive pressure sensor was developed for biomedical applications such as monitoring pressure in an abdominal aortic aneurysm sac after a stenting procedure to detect potential leakage from the stent graft. The sensor, referred to as the magneto-harmonic pressure sensor, was an airtight chamber consisting of a rigid well structure capped with an elastic membrane. A magnetically soft material was placed at the bottom of the well, while a magnetically hard material was attached to the membrane. Under the excitation of a magnetic AC field, the magnetically soft material produced a magnetic field at frequencies higher than the excitation frequency (the higher-order harmonic fields) that can be remotely detected with an external detection system. The pattern of the higher-order harmonic fields was dependent on the magnitude of the magnetic DC field produced by the magnetically hard material. When the ambient pressure varied, the membrane of the sensor deflected, changing the separation distance between the magnetically hard and soft materials. This in turn changed the magnitude of the magnetic DC field, causing a shift in the higher-order harmonic field pattern. This paper describes the design and fabrication of the sensor, and its implementation to mice to evaluate its performance in a biological environment.