Integration of a capacitive pressure sensing system into the outer catheter wall for coronary artery FFR measurements

Frank Stam, Heikki Kuisma, Feng Gao, Jaakko Saarilahti, David Gomes Martins, Anu Kärkkäinen, Brendan Marrinan, Sebastian Pintal

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference article in proceedingsScientificpeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The deadliest disease in the world is coronary artery disease (CAD), which is related to a narrowing (stenosis) of blood vessels due to fatty deposits, plaque, on the arterial walls. The level of stenosis in the coronary arteries can be assessed by Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) measurements. This involves determining the ratio between the maximum achievable blood flow in a diseased coronary artery and the theoretical maximum flow in a normal coronary artery. The blood flow is represented by a pressure drop, thus a pressure wire or pressure sensor integrated in a catheter can be used to calculate the ratio between the coronary pressure distal to the stenosis and the normal coronary pressure. A 2 Fr (0.67mm) outer diameter catheter was used, which required a high level of microelectronics miniaturisation to fit a pressure sensing system into the outer wall. The catheter has an eccentric guidewire lumen with a diameter of 0.43mm, which implies that the thickest catheter wall section provides less than 210 microns height for flex assembly integration consisting of two dies, a capacitive MEMS pressure sensor and an ASIC. In order to achieve this a very thin circuit flex was used, and the two chips were thinned down to 75 microns and flip chip mounted face down on the flex. Many challenges were involved in obtaining a flex layout that could wrap into a small tube without getting the dies damaged, while still maintaining enough flexibility for the catheter to navigate the arterial system.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationBio-MEMS and Medical Microdevices III
    EditorsIoanna Giouroudi, Ioanna Giouroudi, Manuel Delgado-Restituto, Sander van den Driesche
    PublisherInternational Society for Optics and Photonics SPIE
    ISBN (Print)978-1-5106-0995-2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2017
    MoE publication typeA4 Article in a conference publication
    EventBio-MEMS and Medical Microdevices III Conference 2017 - Barcelona, Spain
    Duration: 9 May 201710 May 2017

    Publication series

    SeriesProceedings of SPIE
    Volume10247
    ISSN0277-786X

    Conference

    ConferenceBio-MEMS and Medical Microdevices III Conference 2017
    Country/TerritorySpain
    CityBarcelona
    Period9/05/1710/05/17

    Keywords

    • capacitive pressure sensor
    • catheter integration
    • chip bumping & coining
    • die thinning
    • flexible circuit
    • flip chip interconnect
    • fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)
    • solder laser jetting
    • Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)
    • OtaNano

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