The device, which could be used on patients who recently had skin grafts, accurately records the flow of blood in larger vessels and in networks of smaller vessels near the surface of the skin, MIT Technology Review reports. The inventors are also looking into possible uses for the device inside the human body.
The blood flow device works by slightly heating the skin and then temperature sensors record the movement of the heat as arteries and veins near the skin surface carry the heat away. That information is then run through models that account for the fluid dynamics of blood flow, John Rogers, one of the inventors and a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told the publication.
REFERENCE: Fierce Medical Devices; 02 NOV 2015; Joseph Keenan