Disposable sensor for organ transplantation
An organ due for transplantation has a time fixed viability, designed on a worst-case directive. However, this often leads to the discarding of viable organs, when the expiration time has expired. Continuous monitoring of the organ would not only allow the timely assurance of its viability but also the evaluation of its behavior during preservation, transport and initial postoperative period. In the context of the European project, MICROTRANS, a new and reliable multi-sensor micro-probe, based on silicon, has been developed, allowing the constant monitoring of the organ due for transplantation. The use of microelectronic technologies in the fabrication of micro probes provides high reliability and low costs, while at the same time the monitoring of organ viability is attained with respect to the need for ideal temperature and pathogen isolation of the organ during transport. The micro-probe includes sensors of temperature, pH, potassium and impedance, which comprise essential parameters for the evaluation of the physiological status of living organs. Its conformance with the medical devices directives on electrical safety and biocompatibility allowed use of the micro-probe in experimental and clinical practice. The validation of the system was performed through a custom-made instrumentation system, developed under MICROTRANS, for use in both clinical environment and in-vivo experimentation. The system has a modular architecture, hosting different modules for each parameter of interest, offering flexibility for the variety of sensor types and technologies that may be used. The software for the processing (filtering and calibration), control, display and store the measured data sent from the different modules has been developed on the basis of Lab View software platform. Diverse experimental works, both in vitro and in vivo, have been carried out to verify the behavior of the system, demonstrating promising results. The micro-sensor electronic system based on silicon for multiple-parameter in vivo measurement open new trails in the in-situ monitoring of grafts, thus expanding the number of available grafts and their possible destinies.
