Technology

Proteus Biomedical’s body-powered and implantable technologies are the foundation for the development of the company’s intelligent medical products.

The company’s body-powered ingestible technology makes intelligent pharmaceuticals possible: microsensor-enabled medications that provide patients with valuable information to customize therapy. The company’s implantable ChipSkin™ technology adds intelligence to any implanted medical device: tiny active electronics that expand the performance of devices that use electrical energy to deliver therapy inside the body.

Ingestible Technology

Proteus ingestible event markers (IEMs) are tiny, digestible sensors made from food ingredients, which are activated by stomach fluids after swallowing. Once activated, the IEM creates an ultra-low-power, private, digital signal detected by a microelectronic recorder configured as either a small bandage style skin-patch or a tiny device inserted under the skin. The detector date- and time-stamps, decodes, and records information such as type of drug, dose, and place of manufacture, and also measures and reports physiologic parameters such as heart rate, activity, and respiratory rate. Detector data can be combined at the server-level with other telemetered parameters such as blood pressure, weight, blood glucose, and patient-generated feedback.

IEMs are manufactured at “wafer scale” on silicon and are therefore extremely economical to produce, costing a few cents per sensor in large quantities.

The IEM is the cornerstone of the company’s Raisin™ System, which is currently in clinical development for individualized care and wellness management incorporating patient-selectable sharing of information with health providers, caregivers, and other community support resources.

Implantable Technology

One of the significant challenges slowing innovation in implanted medical device therapies is the disintegration of active electronics exposed to body fluids outside of relatively large-scale metal enclosures. Proteus’ ChipSkin™ technology solves this issue by providing an extremely thin and durable protective layer that ensures long-term survival and performance of micro-scale implanted electronic devices. ChipSkin  dramatically increases design options for incorporating active electronics into medical implants and expands the capability of existing devices using electrical energy to stimulate, pace or regulate body function.

ChipSkin intelligent implanted devices offer the potential to transform therapy for patients with heart failure, chronic pain, and other disorders.