Why the study?
Current vascular stent monitoring relies largely on inductive coupling, which limits wireless reading distance and requires precise antenna alignment.
A novel wireless stent-sensor assembly demonstrates the ability to detect hemodynamic pressure changes indicative of stent-edge restenosis from a distance of 50 cm in vitro.
Facilitates long-range wireless stent monitoring; leaves open clinical validation before practice adoption.
Continuous monitoring of vascular stent health is crucial for high-risk patients. Current approaches predominantly rely on inductive coupling, which limits the wireless reading distance and requires precise antenna alignment with implanted stents. Here, we present a long-range wireless electronic system that incorporates a low-resistance inductive stent fabricated via laser micromachining and electroplating of biocompatible metal films, forming a mechanically robust and conductive interface optimized for radar interrogation. A conformal, flexible capacitive pressure sensor is developed from soft dielectric elastomers and integrated within the stent's structure, enabling localized detection of hemodynamic pressure changes indicative of stent-edge restenosis. Computational modeling validates the antenna design as an effective radiator, while an in vitro study evaluates the performance of the stent-sensor assembly and wireless coupling. Our system successfully detected the stent from a distance of 50 cm, providing trackable localized pressure signals at 2 GHz for healthy stents as well as diagnostic capabilities for 50% stent-edge restenosis. This work establishes a new class of enhanced wireless stents, offering extended readout distances and real-time diagnostic capability, with broad implications for developing next-generation bioelectronic interfaces.
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Bateman et al. (2025) studied this question.
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