There is an innovative health sensor in the market that can tell how fast your blood is pumping. The sensor is not like any other device we’ve seen before. The wearable device is soft, thin, stretchy and resembles a temporary sticker tattoo. A group of engineers and medical researchers from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign created this ground-breaking blood flow monitor. The sensor allows medical researchers to track and collect data from a patient’s blood flow 24/7, which is crucial for vascular disease patients, as they perform their daily activities. Also, medical researchers can utilize the wearable device to track a diabetes patient’s vitals, where blood flow monitoring is critical for their well-being.
The health sensor is a miniature heat pad surrounded by heat sensors. All the heat sensors sit on a silicon skin material. To track the blood flow, the heat pad warms up 12 degrees higher than the patient’s body temperature. Once the pad has warmed up, the sensors track how long it takes for the veins to warm up. This process provides an accurate estimate of the underlying vein’s size. The sensors also track how long it takes for the heat, created by the heat pad, to travel through the vein. All these measurements make available for an accurate estimation of the patient’s blood flow.
Although it seems like a medical breakthrough, the wearable device still needs improvement. Currently, the blood flow monitor needs to connect to a wire for it to charge and transmit the data to a computer. The team’s ultimate goal is to create a wireless health sensor. The team is working on a wireless version that includes tiny solar cells, which will allow the body to produce the energy the sensor needs for functioning.
The ground-breaking technology involved in the wearable device makes this project the perfect candidate to claim the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit. The federal and state tax incentive is available for projects like the blood flow monitor that constantly keeps improving the product’s efficiency. To learn more about these federal and state tax credits visit the Indago website www.indagotax.com or email us at [email protected]