Intracranial pressure in healthy supine adults is controlled by cerebral autoregulation. However,in the case of medical conditions such as hydrocephalus, severe brain trauma, brain infection,brain tumor, and brain surgery, the change in pressure can surpass the body's ability forautoregulation, which can result in brain damage or even death. Therefore, postoperative intracranial pressure monitoring is critically important to ensure the safety of the patient andimprove outcomes. However, current solutions for monitoring the intracranial pressure are limitedto hospital settings in which usually a percutaneous wire connection provides power and readoutto an implanted pressure sensor. This reduces the patient's mobility and carries an increased riskof infection and malfunction. Additionally, the emerging fully implantable solutions are not suitablefor chronic and out-of-hospital use due to bulky readout, power requirements, and high cost. Thisproject aims to develop an innovative, passive, and low-cost ultrasound readable intracranialpressure sensor based on biocompatible polymeric materials. This sensor is integrated into theshunt implant system in the case of hydrocephalus patients or is embedded into a novelsonolucent cranioplasty implant used to restore skull contour during cranioplasty surgeries.Adding a pressure sensor to these implants will result in an intracranial pressure monitoringsolution that incorporates the high accuracy of an implanted device and entirely passiveultrasound readout into the traditional implants and allows for continuous intracranial pressuremonitoring suitable for prolonged chronic usage.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Narrative This project will develop a passive pressure sensor integrated either into the shunt system used for hydrocephalus patients or into the cranioplasty implant to monitor the patient's condition after a surgery that requires such an implant. This pressure sensor is based on ultrasound readout and can be used to detect critical pressure spikes inside the skull remotely, improving patient outcomes without additional risk of infection associated with tethered pressure monitoring solutions. Additionally, in hydrocephalus patients, the developed passive pressure sensing solution will pave the way for continuous monitoring of pressure outside hospital settings.
Project Terms: <21+ years old>
