A group of engineers at the University of California, San Diego, has successfully developed the first fully integrated, portable ultrasound system capable of monitoring deep tissues, including in moving individuals.

This innovation has the potential to play a crucial role in monitoring cardiovascular health and represents a significant milestone for one of the leading laboratories specializing in wearable ultrasound technology. The results of this research were recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The work was led by the laboratory of Sheng Xu, a professor of nanoengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and corresponding author of the study.

The fully integrated autonomous wearable ultrasonic system (USoP) builds on previous laboratory research on the design of flexible ultrasonic sensors. However, unlike previous sensors, which required cables to transmit data and power, the new system incorporates a small, flexible control circuit that communicates with an array of ultrasound transducers, enabling wireless data collection and transmission. A machine learning component assists in data interpretation and tracking of moving subjects.

As revealed by the laboratory's findings, the patch-shaped ultrasound system enables continuous tracking of physiological signals from deep tissues, reaching depths of up to 164 mm. It is capable of continuously measuring central blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, and other physiological signals for up to twelve consecutive hours.

USoP also represents a significant advancement in the development of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), which consists of a network of medical devices connected to the internet, wirelessly transmitting physiological signals for professional analysis, computing, and diagnostics in the cloud.