In-vitro characterization of an implantable thermal flow sensor for hydrocephalus

Abstract

An implantable thermal flow sen treatment of hydrocephalus has been developed.The sensor uses passive telemetry at 13.56 MHz for power supply and read out of the measured flow rate. The in vitro performance of the sensor has been characterized using artificial Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) with increased protein concentration and artificial CSF with 10% fresh blood. No drift could be observed in the flow sensor measurement which could be associated to a deposition of proteins at the sensitive surface walls of the packaged flow sensor. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.