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Detection of failing arterial reconstructions requires intensive surveillance by frequent
physical examination and noninvasive laboratory testing. However, many grafts fail
during the intervals between these examinations. For this reason, we have developed
an implantable miniaturized piezoelectric flow detection device whose function can
be monitored externally by radiotransmission across the skin.
Sensors were constructed from ultrathin polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF2) with piezoelectric activity and attached with silicone fixative to 6-mm polytetrafluoroethylene
grafts. Ten of these grafts were placed in mongrel dogs as iliofemoral bypasses. Real
time data were acquired from the sensors at a rate of 200 Hz, using a DATAQ A/D data
acquisition board and CODAS data acquisition softwarre, while simultaneous blood flow
(using an electromagnetic flowmeter) and intraluminal pressure were processed by using
separate channels of the same data acquisition board. The data were stored on computer
storage media and analyzed by the ASYST software, which allows simultaneous signal
curves to be compared using regression analysis. In the resting state, the mean blood
flow was 123±16 mL and the mean intraluminal pressure was 124/78 mm Hg, and there
was perfect correlation between the PVF2 sensor and the flowmeter and between the sensor and the intraluminal pressure (correlation
coefficient, r≥0.99 and r≥0.93, respectively). A tourniquet was applied to the iliac
artery proximal to the graft to reduce the flow to approximately half of the resting
state (mean flow after tourniquet: 66±6 mL/minute). Signal tractings from the three
sources showed a remarkable similarity with a very high correlation coefficient (r≥0.99
between sensor and flowmeter and r≥0.92 between sensor and the pressure signal).
These preliminary results show that the sensors made from low-profile and low-mass
PVF2 material have the potential of being implanted around grafts for long-term, continuous
monitoring of graft function. Further studies involving long-term implantation to
assess the effect of tissue ingrowth and loss of compliance are necessary before this
device can be used clinically.
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Article info
Footnotes
2Presented at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, Palm Desert, California, March 7–11, 1990.
Identification
Copyright
© 1990 Reed Publishing USA. Published by Elsevier Inc.
