Research Program May Aid Device Development

Originally Published MDDI December 2002

R&D DIGEST

MCNC (Research Triangle Park, NC), a nonprofit research and advanced computing/networking facility, has initiated a novel life sciences program intended to develop, model, prototype, and test a range of diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical equipment. For example, MCNC's Materials and Electronic Technologies Division (METD) is working on a project that will apply microfabrication tools and techniques to developing such items as glucose monitoring sensors, devices for characterizing biological processes in cells, and neural prostheses.

METD recently began collaborating with Duke University (Durham, NC) to develop miniaturized ultrasound devices. The research project, which is being funded by a five-year National Institutes of Health award, will develop microfabricated high-resolution 2-D ultrasound arrays for integration into existing 3-D imaging systems developed at Duke for real-time cardiac catheter-based imaging.

The research team expects the technology to enable heart surgeons to view real-time ultrasound video of the heart and arteries during catheter-based surgical procedures, such as angioplasty. This capability would aid in catheter navigation and help physicians to assess the presence of plaque. Current 2-D ultrasound arrays are too large to fit inside of a cardiac catheter, according to the researchers. Applying microfabrication technology to the ultrasound transducer will enable the researchers to reduce the size of such components so that they can be used inside a 2-mm-diam catheter that will be small enough to fit within coronary arteries.

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