A Review of Inductive Sensing and Imaging Technologies in Healthcare

Abstract

The demand for biomedical devices that can collect high-fidelity data from patients in various environments, inside and outside medical clinics, and can provide high-precision diagnosis and long-term monitoring, is high in the healthcare industry. Among different sensing technologies, this study specifically focuses on providing a review of inductive sensing-based devices used in healthcare. Although the concept of inductive sensing has been used in other fields aside from healthcare, we believe that there is a high potential for a wide range of use of this sensing method across various biomedical devices due to the low cost, flexibility in the sensor design, mature fabrication technologies, and high sensitivity. This review first summarizes the mechanisms of inductive sensing-based devices and design considerations. Then, three main groups of applications that are used in healthcare and rely mainly on inductive sensing for their diagnosis and treatments are presented, including motion tracking and continuous monitoring systems, bio-signal detection systems, and imaging biological tissues. We conclude with a summary of the current status of inductive sensing devices used in healthcare, highlighting the promising capabilities and barriers to overcome.

Keywords

• Coils
• imaging
• inductive sensing
• medical devices