# Passive intracranial pressure sensor for hydrocephalus shunts and cranioplasty implants with ultrasound readout

> **NIH NIH R43** · SENTIOMED, INC. · 2022 · $255,781

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Intracranial pressure in healthy supine adults is controlled by cerebral autoregulation. However,
in the case of medical conditions such as hydrocephalus, severe brain trauma, brain infection,
brain tumor, and brain surgery, the change in pressure can surpass the body’s ability for
autoregulation, which can result in brain damage or even death. Therefore, postoperative
intracranial pressure monitoring is critically important to ensure the safety of the patient and
improve outcomes. However, current solutions for monitoring the intracranial pressure are limited
to hospital settings in which usually a percutaneous wire connection provides power and readout
to an implanted pressure sensor. This reduces the patient’s mobility and carries an increased risk
of infection and malfunction. Additionally, the emerging fully implantable solutions are not suitable
for chronic and out-of-hospital use due to bulky readout, power requirements, and high cost. This
project aims to develop an innovative, passive, and low-cost ultrasound readable intracranial
pressure sensor based on biocompatible polymeric materials. This sensor is integrated into the
shunt implant system in the case of hydrocephalus patients or is embedded into a novel
sonolucent cranioplasty implant used to restore skull contour during cranioplasty surgeries.
Adding a pressure sensor to these implants will result in an intracranial pressure monitoring
solution that incorporates the high accuracy of an implanted device and entirely passive
ultrasound readout into the traditional implants and allows for continuous intracranial pressure
monitoring suitable for prolonged chronic usage.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10484847
- **Project number:** 1R43NS127733-01
- **Recipient organization:** SENTIOMED, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Corbin Zean Clawson
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $255,781
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2023-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10484847

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10484847, Passive intracranial pressure sensor for hydrocephalus shunts and cranioplasty implants with ultrasound readout (1R43NS127733-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10484847. Licensed CC0.

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