Flow sense hydrocephalus monitor

Rhaeos (Evanston, IL), a spinout from Northwestern University, specializes in addressing hydrocephalus, and this piece describes its new flow monitor which should be available in 2021.  “The device uses a small heater to gently increase the temperature of the skin directly above the shunt tubing and then precisely measures that temperature at upstream and downstream locations. When there’s no flow, we’ve seen that the temperature of the skin increases isotropically – equally in all directions around the heater. But when there is flow, the heat moves anisotropically – unequally around the heater – with a small but measurable relative temperature increase downstream from the heater. We use high-precision temperature sensors and Bluetooth technology to send this temperature data to an iPad, which analyzes the flow and gives feedback to the physician. This is all performed with a small flexible device with a form factor that makes it look a lot like a bumpy adhesive bandage.”     MORE WITH VIDEO

Image Credit:  Rhaeos and MedGadget.com