Enabling Real-Time Monitoring of Intrabody Networks Through the Acoustic Discovery Architecture.

Abstract

This article proposes the first acoustic discovery architecture (ADA) for intrabody networks (INs). The main objective of ADA is to discover and interrogate, in real-time (RT), all the implanted medical devices (IMDs) that are part of an IN. This permits noninvasive RT diagnosis for patients with multiple IMDs. ADA will allow medical doctors to have vital information, on-the-go, for treating patients and to constantly monitor them. The architecture was implemented in a network simulator emulating a real-life IN, based on preliminary experimental results. ADA is in charge of scanning the body volume, by exploiting the beam-forming and beam-steering capability of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) arrays, and efficiently interrogating all the reached devices for their status. As a result, a full IN map can be reconstructed together with all the vital signs of a patient. ADA shows very good RT capabilities, with a full scanning time from 1500 down to 100 ms and energy consumption from 2.6 down to 0.2 mJ, depending on the scanning accuracy, for a body torso volume of [Formula: see text].