Continuous and reliable blood pressure monitoring is particularly important in intensive care and emergency medicine, allowing clinicians to detect sudden changes in a patient’s circulatory status and initiate appropriate treatment. However, noninvasive methods using a blood pressure cuff provide only intermittent readings and may be less reliable in patients with unstable conditions. Invasive blood pressure monitoring, by contrast, enables continuous and accurate measurements. However, the equipment required, including catheters, pressure transducers, tubing, and monitors, is complex. User errors, air bubbles, incorrect positioning, and resonance effects can all compromise measurement accuracy.
MEMS Sensors Integrated Directly into Catheters
IMPRESS is pursuing a new approach by developing a highly integrated MEMS-based blood pressure sensor that can be embedded directly into disposable medical devices such as catheters. This would allow blood pressure to be measured directly inside the blood vessel, eliminating the need for the fluid-filled tubing system used in conventional invasive monitoring. In addition to the sensor itself, the development includes electronics for signal conditioning, analog-to-digital conversion, and a communication interface. The goal is to create a compact sensor solution that delivers accurate measurements while reducing the number of required components, the risk of user errors, and overall costs. The platform is also designed to be adaptable to other medical applications, potentially including chest drains, central venous catheters, and stents. This would establish a technological foundation for a range of medical devices and support future large-scale production.
Project Coordination
- Dr. med. Moritz Herzog | Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden University Hospital
Project Partner
- TUD Dresden University of Technology
- Bosch Sensortec GmbH
- DELTEC electronics GmbH
- Contronix Engineering GmbH
- neongrau OHG
- Vygon SAS (associated)
