University of Pittsburgh Announces Six Patents Issued in March 2022

Pitt innovators were issued 6 U.S. patents in March 2022.

Featured patent: 11,272,840  “Touch Probe Passively Powered Wireless Stent Antenna for Implanted Sensor Powering Interrogation”

Smart stents are capable of wirelessly reporting the degree of restenosis, alerting the patient to the need for a hospital visit before damage due to heart attack, blood clot, or aneurysm can occur. Powering and communicating with novel implanted smart stents remain a challenge. Ervin Sejdic, Associate Professor, Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioengineering and Biomedical Informatics, has developed a skin-contact touch probe antenna that can be used to both power and communicate with implanted stents when the stents are configured as antennas. The touch probe confines power within a small area around the implant, reducing the risk of interference with nearby electronics, such as those in an operating room, and other implanted electronics, such as pacemakers. The touch probe method also increases security, reducing the chance of information being mistakenly read from a device without deliberate physical access.

For more information on this technology, including licensing, contact Janice Panza at jpanza@innovation.pitt.edu.