Design and fabrication of a low cost implantable bladder pressure monitor

In the frame of the Flemish Community funded project Bioflex we developed and fabricated an implant for short term (< 7 days) bladder pressure monitoring, and diagnosis of incontinence. This implant is soft and flexible to prevent damaging the bladder's inner wall. It contains a standard flexible electronic circuit connected to a battery, which are embedded in surface treated silicone to enhance the biocompatibility and prevent salt deposition. This article describes the fabrication of the pill and the results of preliminary cytotoxicity tests. The electronic design and its tests, implantation and the result of the in-vivo experimentation will be presented in other articles

Iron Deficiency in Patients with Advanced Heart Failure

Background and Objectives: Iron deficiency (ID) is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure. It is associated with reduced physical performance, frequent hospitalisations for heart failure decompensation, and high cardiovascular and overall mortality. The aim was to determine the prevalence of ID in patients with advanced heart failure on the waiting list for heart transplantation. Methods and Materials: We included 52 patients placed on the waiting list for heart transplantation in 2021 at our centre. The cohort included seven patients with LVAD (left ventricle assist device) as a bridge to transplantation implanted before the time of results collection. In addition to standard tests, the parameters of iron metabolism were monitored. ID was defined as a ferritin value &lt;100 &micro;g/L, or 100&ndash;299 &micro;g/L if transferrin saturation (T-sat) is &lt;20%. Results: ID was present in 79% of all subjects, but only in 35% of these patients anaemia was expressed. In the group without LVAD, ID was present in 82%, a median (lower&ndash;upper quartile) of ferritin level was 95.4 (62.2&ndash;152.1) &micro;g/mL and mean T-sat was 0.18 &plusmn; 0.09. In LVAD group, ID was present in 57%, ferritin level was 268 (106&ndash;368) &micro;g/mL and mean T-sat was 0.14 &plusmn; 0.04. Haemoglobin concentration was the same in patients with or without ID (133 &plusmn; 16) vs. (133 &plusmn; 23). ID was not associated with anaemia defined with regard to patient&rsquo;s gender. In 40.5% of cases, iron deficiency was accompanied by chronic renal insufficiency, compared to 12.5% of the patients without ID. In the patients with LVAD, ID was present in four out of seven patients, but the group was too small for reliable statistical testing due to low statistical power. Conclusions: ID was present in the majority of patients with advanced heart failure and was not always accompanied by anaemia and renal insufficiency. Research on optimal markers for the diagnosis of iron deficiency, especially for specific groups of patients with heart failure, is still ongoing

Low Cost, Biocompatible Elastic and Conformable Electronic Technologies using Mid in Stretchable Polymer

For user comfort reasons, electronic circuits for implantation in the human body or for use as smart clothes should ideally be soft, stretchable and elastic. In this contribution the results of an MUD (Molded Interconnect Device) technology will be presented, showing the feasibility of functional stretchable electronic circuits. In the developed technology rigid or flexible standard components are interconnected by meander shaped metallic wires and embedded by molding in a stretchable substrate polymer. Several technologies have been developed to this purpose, which combine low cost and good reliability under mechanical strain. In this way reliable stretchability of the circuits above 100% has been demonstrated. Enhanced reliability has been reached using an additional conductive polymer layer

Low cost, biocompatible elastic and conformable electronic technologies using MID in stretchable polymer

For user comfort reasons, electronic circuits for implantation in the human body or for use as smart clothes should ideally be soft, stretchable and elastic. In this contribution the results of an MUD (Molded Interconnect Device) technology will be presented, showing the feasibility of functional stretchable electronic circuits. In the developed technology rigid or flexible standard components are interconnected by meander shaped metallic wires and embedded by molding in a stretchable substrate polymer. Several technologies have been developed to this purpose, which combine low cost and good reliability under mechanical strain. In this way reliable stretchability of the circuits above 100% has been demonstrated. Enhanced reliability has been reached using an additional conductive polymer layer

Adhesion enhancement by a dielectric barrier discharge of PDMS used for flexible and stretchable electronics

Currently, there is a strong tendency to replace rigid electronic assemblies by mechanically flexible and stretchable equivalents. This emerging technology can be applied for biomedical electronics, such as implantable devices and electronics on skin. In the first step of the production process of stretchable electronics, electronic interconnections and components are encapsulated into a thin layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Afterwards, the electronic structures are completely embedded by placing another PDMS layer on top. It is very important that the metals inside the electronic circuit do not leak out in order to obtain a highly biocompatible system. Therefore, an excellent adhesion between the 2 PDMS layers is of great importance. However, PDMS has a very low surface energy, resulting in poor adhesion properties. Therefore, in this paper, PDMS films are plasma treated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating in air at medium pressure (5.0 kPa). Contact angle and XPS measurements reveal that plasma treatment increases the hydrophilicity of the PDMS films due to the incorporation of silanol groups at the expense of methyl groups. T-peel tests show that plasma treatment rapidly imparts adhesion enhancement, but only when both PDMS layers are plasma treated. Results also reveal that it is very important to bond the plasma-treated PDMS films immediately after treatment. In this case, an excellent adhesion is maintained several days after treatment. The ageing behaviour of the plasma- treated PDMS films is also studied in detail: contact angle measurements show that the contact angle increases during storage in air and angle-resolved XPS reveals that this hydrophobic recovery is due to the migration of low molar mass PDMS species to the surface

Adhesion enhancement by a dielectric barrier discharge of PDMS used for flexible and stretchable electronics

Currently, there is a strong tendency to replace rigid electronic assemblies by mechanically flexible and stretchable equivalents. This emerging technology can be applied for biomedical electronics, such as implantable devices and electronics on skin. In the first step of the production process of stretchable electronics, electronic interconnections and components are encapsulated into a thin layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Afterwards, the electronic structures are completely embedded by placing another PDMS layer on top. It is very important that the metals inside the electronic circuit do not leak out in order to obtain a highly biocompatible system. Therefore, an excellent adhesion between the 2 PDMS layers is of great importance. However, PDMS has a very low surface energy, resulting in poor adhesion properties. Therefore, in this paper, PDMS films are plasma treated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operating in air at medium pressure (5.0 kPa). Contact angle and XPS measurements reveal that plasma treatment increases the hydrophilicity of the PDMS films due to the incorporation of silanol groups at the expense of methyl groups. T-peel tests show that plasma treatment rapidly imparts adhesion enhancement, but only when both PDMS layers are plasma treated. Results also reveal that it is very important to bond the plasma-treated PDMS films immediately after treatment. In this case, an excellent adhesion is maintained several days after treatment. The ageing behaviour of the plasma- treated PDMS films is also studied in detail: contact angle measurements show that the contact angle increases during storage in air and angle-resolved XPS reveals that this hydrophobic recovery is due to the migration of low molar mass PDMS species to the surface

First experience of a hemophilia monitoring platform: florio HAEMO

Background: florio HAEMO is a new hemophilia treatment monitoring application consisting of a patient smartphone application (app) and a web-based dashboard for healthcare professionals, providing several novel features, including activity tracking, wearable connectivity, kids and caregiver mode, and real-time pharmacokinetic factor level estimation. ----- Objectives: To assess intuitiveness, ease-of-use, and patient preference of florio HAEMO in Central Europe using a cross-sectional survey. ----- Methods: This survey was conducted in six Central European countries between 9 December 2020 and 24 May 2021. The online questionnaire included 17 questions about overall satisfaction, ease-of-use, intuitiveness, and patient preference. Adults or children with hemophilia on regular prophylaxis and using the florio HAEMO app for a minimum of 1 week were invited to complete the online questionnaire by their treating physician. ----- Results: Sixty-six participants took part in the survey. The median duration for all respondents using the florio HAEMO app was 3 to 4 weeks. Overall, 89.4% of users reported being very satisfied or rather satisfied after using florio HAEMO. Of the 23 respondents who had switched from another hemophilia app, 87.0% indicated that they strongly preferred or preferred using florio HAEMO. Most florio HAEMO users reported that the app was very easy or rather easy to use (97.0%) and intuitive (94.0%). florio HAEMO had a positive impact on daily living, with 78.8% of users reporting that the app was very important or rather important to them. ----- Conclusions: This survey suggests that florio HAEMO is an easy-to-use and intuitive app to assist self-management of home prophylaxis