Metglas–Elgiloy bi-layer, stent cell resonators for wireless monitoring of viscosity and mass loading

This paper presents the design and evaluation of magnetoelastic sensors intended for wireless monitoring of tissue accumulation in peripheral artery stents. The sensors are fabricated from 28 μm thick foils of magnetoelastic 2826MB MetglasTM, an amorphous Ni–Fe alloy. The sensor layer consists of a frame and an active resonator portion. The frame consists of 150 μm wide struts that are patterned in the same wishbone array pattern as a 12 mm × 1.46 mm Elgiloy stent cell. The active portion is a 10 mm long symmetric leaf shape and is anchored to the frame at mid length. The active portion nests within the stent cell, with a uniform gap separating the two. A gold-indium eutectic bonding process is used to bond MetglasTM and Elgiloy foils, which are subsequently patterned to form bi-layer resonators. The response of the sensor to viscosity changes and mass loading that precede and accompany artery occlusion is tested in vitro. The typical sensitivity to viscosity of the fundamental, longitudinal resonant frequency at 361 kHz is 427 ppm cP−1 over a 1.1–8.6 cP range. The sensitivity to mass loading is typically between 63000 and 65000 ppm mg−1 with the resonant frequency showing a reduction of 8.1% for an applied mass that is 15% of the unloaded mass of the sensor. This is in good agreement with the theoretical response. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)