Implantable Dust-Sized Sensors to Monitor Health

Tiny, multipurpose sensors, based on flash memory, could detect everything from blood pressure to toxic compounds.

A small speck of a sensor — no wider than a human hair — can detect light, pressure, temperature, and the presence of certain chemicals. The device, which uses flash-memory technology, the same memory used in some iPods, could eventually be employed in a wide variety of applications, including better drug-screening tests, the continuous monitoring of the health of organs and blood vessels, and as tiny sensors for detecting chemicals in the environment.

The sensors, invented by Edwin Kan, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, are now being developed for commercial use by Transonic Systems in Ithaca, NY. The first such application, which could be available in five years, will probably be for studying and monitoring blood flow, pressure, and temperature in the small blood vessels of lab animals, an important part of drug trials, says Transonic project engineer Bruce McKee. In such an application, the sensors would be implanted in the bloodstream of animals.

By Kevin Bullis

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