Medical Vital-Sign Monitoring Now the Size of Postage Stamp

Sophisticated sensors that are about the size and thickness of a postage stamp have been created by electrical engineers at the Oregon State University to monitor vital medical signs.

The tiny and affordable "system on a chip" can easily fit onto a bandage. The sensors have many potential applications, can be manufactured in bulk and are high value and low cost.

 According to the researchers, a patent is being processed for monitoring system and it's now ready for clinical trials.

"Current technology allows you to measure these body signals using bulky, power-consuming, costly instruments," said Patrick Chiang, an associate professor at the Oregon School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

"What we've enabled is the integration of these large components onto a single microchip, achieving significant improvements in power consumption," Chiang said. "We can now make important biomedical measurements more portable, routine, convenient and affordable than ever before."

According to Chiang, the much higher cost and larger size of conventional body data monitoring precludes many possible uses. On comparing it with the other existing technologies, the new system-on-a-chip cuts the size, weight, power consumption and cost by about 10 times, he adds.

The existing technologies such as pedometers , which are used to measure physical activities, averagely cost $100 or so.  This postage stamp sensor can be easily taped over the heart or other body locations to measure vital signs.

According to Chiang, this system doesn't have a battery.  It cab borrow the sparse radio-frequency energy from a nearby device such as a cell phone. The smart phone can be used to provide energy for important biomedical monitoring at the same time.

"The entire field of wearable body monitors is pretty exciting," Chiang said. "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."

This technology could be used in combination with cell phones or other radio-frequency devices within about 15 feet. But the underlying micropowered system-on-a-chip technology can be run by other energy-harvested power sources, such as body heat or physical movement.

The Oregon State University intends to tap private collaboration, an increasing area of emphasis for the university.