Balloon Catheter with in Situ Pressure Sensing Function for Evaluating Hemodynamics

The balloon catheter is widely used for widening narrowed blood vessels to treat cardiovascular diseases. This paper presents a balloon catheter with an integrated MEMS pressure sensor for in situ blood pressure measurement. This multifunctional medical device enables local hemodynamic feedback along with balloon angioplasty. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments show that the developed device conforms to standard clinical procedure and its pressure measurement can evaluate the real-time efficacy of the angioplasty procedure. The study provides a paradigm for developing electronic interventional devices.