The device can record live continuous images, showing what is happening deep inside the body for up to 48 hours
Expectant mothers could one day watch their babies grow inside them with the help of a sticker on their bodies, writes the “Daily Mail”. Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a wearable device the size of a postage stamp.
The device can record live continuous images, showing what is happening deep inside the body for up to 48 hours. The researchers hope the device will be available in stores and pharmacies for pregnant women to use once a week.
The patches, which are about 3 millimeters thick, could also be used to monitor cancer patients’ tumors and speed up diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
The professor Xuanhe Zhaoa mechanical engineer at MIT, who helped design the device, said: “Ultrasound stickers can potentially be used for imaging pregnant women, but imaging frequency should be limited to one imaging per week to ensure safety. The pads will “communicate” with our mobile phone, where artificial intelligence algorithms will analyze the images. We believe we have ushered in a new era for portable imaging. With some stickers on our body, you could see our internal organs».
The stickers were tested in a study published in Science. Fifteen volunteers wore the stickers on various parts of their bodies, including the neck, chest, abdomen and arms for 48 hours. During this time, the participants performed a variety of activities, from sitting and standing to jogging, cycling and lifting weights.
While medical images in hospitals are usually taken in a matter of seconds, the stickers can track the patient for 48 hours. This will allow long-term and continuous imaging of internal organs such as the heart, lungs, muscles and blood vessels. They could also improve wearable devices, which – currently – only give linear data like body temperature and heart rate.
Ultrasounds normally work by sending sound waves through the body and measuring their reflection, just like sonar. A probe is needed to send the sound through a gel and into the body, which is then picked up on its return by a transducer that creates an image. The new technology uses an adhesive layer to secure a thin probe to the skin through a non-drying layer of soft gel. A layer on top of the emitting probe collects the sound waves.
View the news feed and get the latest news.
