Wireless biliary stent system with wishbone-array resonant magnetoelastic sensor and conformal magnetic layer

Abstract

A stent and a magnetoelastic resonant sensor are provided for sensor a physical characteristic in a bodily vessel or cavity. External coils interact with the sensor to induce a resonance that is responsive to the physical characteristic, such that the device may wirelessly measure physical characteristics such as mass loading effects and viscosity changes due to progression of pathology in implanted stents and stent grafts. The sensor may be fashioned from a magnetoelastic material and may be integrated near the inner sidewall of the stent. The sensor may take on a complex patterned shape to enhance the sensitivity and flexibility of the sensor structure. When the sensor is interrogated with a time-varying magnetic field, the sensor will mechanically vibrate and generate a magnetic flux which is maximum at a resonant characteristic determined by the mass load on the sensor and the viscosity of the fluid surrounding the sensor. By correlating the measured resonant characteristic to the mass load and viscosity, the pathological state in and around the stent can be determined.