A wireless, dissolvable sensor that monitors brain activity has been developed by a research team of materials engineers and neurosurgeons. The sensors are smaller than a pencil tip and are eventually absorbed by the body, eliminating the need to surgically remove the devices.

The motivation behind the development was to engineer an implantable sensor that could monitor intracranial pressure and temperature in patients with traumatic brain injury. Such monitoring is critical because a buildup of pressure in the brain and inside the skull can lead to further brain damage and worsen the patient’s injury.

Neurosurgeons Wilson Z. Ray, MD (left), and Rory K. J. Murphy, MD, led the Washington University team that helped develop the wireless brain sensors.Developed by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and materials engineers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, the sensor is made mostly of silicone and polylactic-co-glycolic acid, or PLGA, and can wirelessly transmit accurate pressure and temperature readings, as well as other data.

The ability of the tiny device to dissolve in the body is seen as an advantage over implantable hardware. It reduces the risk of infection, inflammation and even erosion over time. It also negates the need for additional surgery to remove it. Moreover, the device represents a step in bioengineering to create a more advanced alternative to the electrical wires, cables and monitors currently used in hospital intensive care units to monitor a patient’s vital organs.

The device has been successfully tested in lab rats and researchers now plan to move on to patient trials.

If proven safe and effective in humans, the device may also mark an advance in bio-electric medicine where a patient’s vital organs, not just the brain, can be wirelessly monitored, leading to faster medical intervention when necessary and ultimately improved patient outcomes.