Monitoring Your Vital Signs Through A Bandage

Electrical engineers at Oregon State University developed monitoring sensors that are amazingly the size of a postage stamp.  This technology is related to an ongoing engineering research project to reduce the size of body monitoring sensors. Initial testing of the small sensors has shown that they are able to fit onto a bandage. Researchers believe that these monitor sensing bandages can be manufactures in high volumes and cost less than 25 cents to produce. The size of the sensor holds numerous potential and advances for heart monitoring and physical activity recording to be used in future studies These tiny monitoring sensors have caught the attention from healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with dementia. The device is also able to measure perspiration rate and body temperature, which is a useful source of information in disease prevention, or even as a lie detector. Current technology measures these body signals using bulky, power-consuming, costly instruments. These large devices have been integrated onto a single microchip. Now vital biomedical measurements can be made more portable, routine, convenient and affordable. The electrical engineering team have conducted test that have shown that the new technology cuts the cost of comparable technology by approximately ten times. These monitoring sensors don't have a battery. They gather the spare radio-frequency energy from a nearby device. By being able to dramatically reduce the size, weight and cost of these devices, it opens new possibilities in medical treatment, health care, disease prevention, weight management and other fields."

I found this article interesting because the idea that biomedical instruments can be integrated into a device small enough to fir onto a Band-Aid astounds me. Compared to the current biomedical instruments, these monitoring sensors provide a similar degree of power consumption in a smaller sensor. The body monitor market is currently oversupplied with products, some of which can cost up to $100.  By being able to dramatically reduce the size, weight and cost of these devices, it opens new possibilities in medical treatment, health care, disease prevention, weight management and other fields.

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