In Vivo tumor interstitial fluid pressure measurement using static micro force sensor and mechanical tumor model

Abstract

The interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) plays a major role in tumor formation. Increased IFP may hinder the tran-scapillary transport of therapeutic agents as well as the large molecules, and may also lead to a poor prognosis for some cancer patients. IFP may therefore be an important biomarker. Serial noninvasive IFP measurement in vivo may facilitate drug development, if quantitative IFP data could be used for comparison. This paper proposes a novel technique employing a drift-compensated numerical Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) micro-force sensor and a load-deformation mechanical model of tumor to estimate the IFP. Experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility of the method and convincing data show its potential for in vivo tumor pressure measurement. © 2014 IEEE.