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Monitoring Acute Compartment Syndrome with Electrical Impedance Tomography
- Program: Center for Leadership Education
- Course: EN.660.346 Multidisciplinary Engineering Design
- Year: 2025
Project Description:
Our project aims to improve the diagnosis of Acute Compartment Syndrome (ACS), a condition caused by increased pressure in muscle compartments, which can lead to muscle necrosis, nerve damage, loss of function, and in severe cases, even amputation or death, if not treated promptly. The current standard of care—using the Stryker needle—is invasive, painful, and unreliable. We propose a non-invasive alternative using Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), which measures electrical signals on the skin’s surface to detect changes in tissue composition. By tracking impedance patterns, our system can monitor fluid buildup and ischemia progression in real time, providing clinicians with a visual tool to identify the critical window before tissue necrosis.
Project Photo:
Our device wraps a wearable band with evenly spaced electrodes around the mid-calf. Wires connect to a nearby microcontroller, which sends data to a laptop displaying a real-time impedance map. The screen shows a cross-sectional image of the leg, with color gradients indicating tissue changes like swelling or ischemia.
