Abstract
Implantable sensor systems are effective tools for biomedical diagnosis, visualization and treatment of various health conditions, attracting the interest of researchers, as well as healthcare practitioners. These systems efficiently and conveniently provide essential data of the body part being diagnosed, such as gastrointestinal (temperature, pH, pressure) parameter values, blood glucose and pressure levels and electrocardiogram data. Such data are first transmitted from the implantable sensor units to an external receiver node or network and then to a central monitoring and control (computer) unit for analysis, diagnosis and/or treatment. Implantable sensor units are typically in the form of mobile microrobotic capsules or implanted stationary (body-fixed) units. In particular, capsule-based systems have attracted significant research interest recently, with a variety of applications, including endoscopy, microsurgery, drug delivery and biopsy. In such implantable sensor systems, one of the most challenging problems is the accurate localization and tracking of the microrobotic sensor unit (e.g., robotic capsule) inside the human body. This article presents a literature review of the existing localization and tracking techniques for robotic implantable sensor systems with their merits and limitations and possible solutions of the proposed localization methods. The article also provides a brief discussion on the connection and cooperation of such techniques with wearable biomedical sensor systems.
Highlights
Recent discoveries in electronics, nanotechnology, semiconductor technology and advances in material science have resulted in promising new approaches for the development of medical devices.As a result, medical innovation leading to lower cost of healthcare, minimally-invasive procedures and shorter recovery times has become or comparably important to healthcare business leaders, educators, clinicians and policy makers
As an example of implantable medical sensor applications outside the Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) field, implantable bladder sensors are applied to patients who suffer from losing urinary bladder control/sensation, known as urinary incontinence (UI)
The rest of the article is organized as follows: In Section 2, we summarize the existing radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic signal-based localization techniques and algorithms, as well as the challenges in capsule endoscopy (CE) in the literature
Summary
Nanotechnology, semiconductor technology and advances in material science have resulted in promising new approaches for the development of medical devices. They suffer from exterior electromagnetic noise and complicated RF signal absorption characteristics of the human body [12] These technologies still do not provide accurate location and orientation data of the capsule associated with problems, such as tumour diagnosis [3,4]. As an example of implantable medical sensor applications outside the WCE field, implantable bladder sensors are applied to patients who suffer from losing urinary bladder control/sensation, known as urinary incontinence (UI) They provide direct measurement of the bladder urine volume or pressure for long-term monitoring by eliminating the risks of infection caused by catheters, wires or high-energy waves. The purpose of this article is to provide a literature review on the techniques and technologies to localize and track biomedical sensors inside the human body.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
