Sensing Solutions

Glucose Sensors

Used in Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices to measure blood glucose levels in real-time. The CGM device is comprised of three components, namely, the monitor, the transmitter and the sensor. The sensor is among the most critical and refined parts of the CGM, and its size is thinner than that of a needle. The process by which the sensor detects the glucose level is through glucose oxidase which helps in converting glucose to hydrogen peroxide. Electrical signals are generated when the hydrogen peroxide reacts with the platinum based sensor and reach the transmitter through a minute wire.

Pressure Sensors

For blood pressure and airflow sensors in ventilators, fine medical wires are used to transmit electrical signals from a sensor component placed in the body to an external signal processing device. Multi-filar copper conductors are tri-filar wires used to transmit signals from a piezoelectric chip for fractional flow reserve devices.

While medical device components can be customised especially for every customer, fine wire used for blood pressure and airflow sensors in ventilators are commonly manufactured from Copper, Nickel, or Gold. Alleima also offers an extensive range of insulation and bonding coatings, including Polyurethane, Polyesterimide and Polyimide. Read more about our coatings

Looking toward the future
In addition to the new composite wire there is another bit of research that’s really set to change the preventative medicine scene: There’s a new device Alleima is getting involved with bringing to the marketplace that will prevent and manage heart failure before it gets to an acute stage.

The wire is inserted in your cardiovascular system and there’s an antenna that’s attached to this sensor –so the whole system provides a continuous output of blood flow and pressure, that would give the physician an indication that you’re starting on the early stages of heart failure and exactly where the problem areas are. They then start you on a remedial path long before you can ever be considered acute. Contact us for more information about this solution.

Thermocouple

A device based on thermo-electric operations used for the purpose of measuring temperature differences. It is comprised of two wires of different metals coupled at two points, and the temperature difference between the two points is developed and recorded in proportion to the corresponding difference of voltage being developed. Medical grade thermocouples are commonly used for the precise and accurate measurement of tissue temperature during ablation. They are widely used in treating tachycardia and atrial fibrillation and measuring the tissue temperature during radiofrequency ablation of cardiac arrhythmias.

Electrical Sensors

Wires manufactured by Alleima fall under two categories based on their applications:

• Multi-electrode arrays
  Used to transmit neural signals and are aligned in the form of multiple plates. One of the models for multi-electrode arrays is the Utah model which is used to study parallel information from the central nervous system and break down information conveyed by the peripheral nervous system concerning the control of the limb and muscle forces.

• Tetrodes
  Electrodes which find their application in neuroscience under the field of electro-physiology. They find their application in the recording of the potential difference between extra-cellular fields in the nervous tissues. The structure of tetrodes consists of four minute electrodes.
  The tetrode wire generally finds its application in nerve stimulation research and making electrodes. This category of electrical sensor wires can find their application in various implantable medical devices used in cochlear implant and deep brain stimulation.