Micro‐Optical Blood Flow Sensor Based on System in Package (SiP) Technology that Fuses Optical MEMS and Intergrated Circuit to Detect Avian Influenza

As a fusion of micro‐electro‐mechanical systems (MEMS) and system in package (SiP) technologies, a very small wireless blood‐flow sensor to be attached to birds was fabricated. Pulse frequencies are output as Fourier‐transformed signals from a sensor that detects blood flow. Although blood flow fluctuates with the bird's movement, the minimum (resting) value detected is stable enough for comparison against a normal index value for healthy birds. The combination of blood flow (monitored remotely by this miniature blood‐flow sensor) and body temperature is expected to be effective for early detection of infection.

Keywords:

• blood flow
• optical micro‐electro‐mechanical systems
• sensor
• system in package
• wireless

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part as research in the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Also, the authors thank Kazuto Mishima and Takaaki Miyahara of Cyberfirm Ltd. for their support in the field experiments.