Ultrasound patch: looking inside the body via stickers
Ultrasound equipment is one of the most important technical tools available to general health practitioners. Researchers at MIT have now presented a patch that can monitor internal organs.
First tests were successful
The sticker is the size of a postage stamp and delivers high-resolution live ultrasound images of internal organs continuously for 48 hours. The sticker emits ultrasound waves into the body, which are reflected by the organs. From the information obtained in this way, the MIT health engineers can create an image of the patient's organs.
With it, the engineers were able to examine test subjects’ large blood vessels, heart, lungs, and stomach. The stickers attached firmly and recorded changes in underlying organs, even while the subjects were jogging or cycling.
Minor design flaws
The patch design does not yet work wirelessly. The sticker requires a hardwired connection to other devices that convert the reflected sound waves into images.
Still, according to the researchers, the stickers could already have an immediate application in their current form: They could be used on patients in hospitals, for example, similar to the ECG stickers used to monitor the heart in order to continuously image internal organs over an extended period of time.
Wireless next
Of course, scientists are already working on a wireless option, or a combination of sensor, smartphone, and AI imaging algorithms.
With a wireless design and smartphone-supported data analytics, the ultrasound stickers could become wearable imaging monitors that patients can conveniently take home from the doctor's office or buy in the pharmacy.
In addition to their health applications, the stickers could be used in sports or leisure activities. The real-time ultrasound imaging could capture the moment of a workout before muscle overload occurs, signaling that it is time to end the training.
Wearable diagnostic breakthrough
A wireless ultrasound patch design would be a breakthrough in wearable diagnostics and medical imaging.
As the stickers become less expensive and their image analysis AI works better in the background, they will become more prevalent not only in the healthcare market, but also in areas outside of the traditional market—especially in the sports and wellness sector, but certainly in the Quantified Self segment as well.
The next stage of wearable medical technology seems to be closer than we think.