Mapping Heart Activity with a Sensored Catheter
April 26, 2011 | Terry Sharrer
A stretchable array of silicon sensors that detect temperature and electrical activity in the heart could be the catheter of the future which maps that organ for surgery to correct arterial fibrillation. Mapping is done today with a balloon catheter that has a few sensors, resulting in a procedure that can take an hour or more. The arrayed sensors take more readings which reduce the time to a few minutes. John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne pioneered this technology and founded a company, “MC10,” that aims to commercialize it. MORE