A new device that will allow doctors to monitor patients' hearts without even touching them could also be used to test for defects in carbon composite aircraft parts and microchips.
A team from the Centre for Physical Electronics and Quantum Technology in the Department of Engineering and Design at the University of Sussex has already developed laboratory prototypes for these applications, based on electric potential sensors (EPS).
EPS provides a non-invasive way of measuring electric fields, which are present wherever there is electrical activity.
The heart monitor gives precise readings of electrical activity of the patient's heart without the need to connect the patient to equipment via pads and wires. A reading can be taken from the tip of a finger, or remotely - a heartbeat can be detected from up to one metre. The monitor is ready for licensing and further clinical trials are expected to take place in the near future.
Now the team that developed the EPS heart monitor has been awarded GBP 762,000 by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate other areas for which EPS technology could be adapted, including other medical applications, aviation, microchip manufacture and the automotive industry.
The four-year project will involve setting up pilot schemes with other scientists and businesses to develop a range of specific prototypes and test them.
“This funding enables [us] to consolidate research activity in a wide range of areas and to engage with appropriate academic and commercial partners,” says lead researcher Robert Prance. “It is our belief that this non-contact technology will form the basis for new imaging instruments which will impact on both research and routine monitoring in many areas of science and technology.”
The same technology has also been adapted to test for faults in microchip circuitry and stainless steel, carbon fibre composites and aircraft parts. EPS technology could also help to enhance MRI scanning techniques in hospitals.
A team from the Centre for Physical Electronics and Quantum Technology in the Department of Engineering and Design at the University of Sussex has already developed laboratory prototypes for these applications, based on electric potential sensors (EPS).
EPS provides a non-invasive way of measuring electric fields, which are present wherever there is electrical activity.
The heart monitor gives precise readings of electrical activity of the patient's heart without the need to connect the patient to equipment via pads and wires. A reading can be taken from the tip of a finger, or remotely - a heartbeat can be detected from up to one metre. The monitor is ready for licensing and further clinical trials are expected to take place in the near future.
Now the team that developed the EPS heart monitor has been awarded GBP 762,000 by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to investigate other areas for which EPS technology could be adapted, including other medical applications, aviation, microchip manufacture and the automotive industry.
The four-year project will involve setting up pilot schemes with other scientists and businesses to develop a range of specific prototypes and test them.
“This funding enables [us] to consolidate research activity in a wide range of areas and to engage with appropriate academic and commercial partners,” says lead researcher Robert Prance. “It is our belief that this non-contact technology will form the basis for new imaging instruments which will impact on both research and routine monitoring in many areas of science and technology.”
The same technology has also been adapted to test for faults in microchip circuitry and stainless steel, carbon fibre composites and aircraft parts. EPS technology could also help to enhance MRI scanning techniques in hospitals.
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