Alekya, B and Sitaramgupta, VSN and Arjun, BS and Bhushan, V and Abishek, K and Rao, S and Kim, Y and Pandya, HJ (2021) An intubation catheter integrated with flow sensors and smart actuators for characterizing airflow patterns in stenosed trachea: An objective guide for CAO management. In: Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 31 (5).
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Abstract
Stenosis reduces the effective lumen area in the tracheal and bronchial segments of the airway anatomy. Loss in patency due to obstruction increases resistance to airflow; thus, severe narrowing is often associated with morbidity and mortality. Etiologies such as congenital tracheal stenosis, tracheomalacia, laryngeal and subglottic stenosis, atresia are few among the many pathologies causing major airway obstruction and respiratory distress. Diagnosis of such anomalies is usually based on clinical suspicion due to the non-specificity of the associated clinical symptoms. Visual assessment using conventional bronchoscopy or radiography images from CT scan for precisely locating obstruction site is highly subject to clinician's expertise. Characterizing airflow patterns in stenosed airway calls for newer diagnostic tools that can effectively quantify changes in airflow due to construction sites. Our work presents a steerable intubation catheter that can quantitatively measure air velocity across various segments of the tracheobronchial tree. The catheter consists of a three-layer flexible printed circuit board integrated with micro-electro-mechanical system-based thermal flow sensors and a pair of sub-millimeter helical shape memory actuators. Flow distribution is measured in excised sheep tracheal tissues at 15, 30, 50, 65, and 80 l min-1 for normal and stenosed conditions. Even a 10 reduction in lumen area generated unique peaks corresponding to the obstruction site; thus, the catheter can locate stenosis at the precritical stage. For 50 tracheal obliteration, the sensor closest to stenosis showed a 2.4-fold increase in velocity when tested for reciprocating flows. Thus, flow rate scales quadratically with reducing cross-section area, contributing to increased airflow resistance. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
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| Publication: | Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering |
| Publisher: | IOP Publishing Ltd |
| Additional Information: | The copyright for this article belongs to IOP Publishing Ltd |
| Keywords: | Catheters; Computerized tomography; Endoscopy; Flexible electronics; Mechanical actuators; MEMS; Printed circuit boards, Airflow resistance; Cross-section area; Flexible printed circuit boards; Micro electro mechanical system; Radiography images; Shape memory actuators; Thermal flow sensor; Visual assessments, Air |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Electrical Sciences > Electronic Systems Engineering (Formerly Centre for Electronic Design & Technology) |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jul 2021 09:32 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jul 2021 09:32 |
| URI: | http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68869 |
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