Deep Vein Thrombosis Detection

Inspiration

Deep Vein Thrombosis is a condition in which blood clots form in a deep vein, often in the legs. They are sometimes marked with pain or swelling, however it is not uncommon for no symptoms to appear in patients with DVT. Detection methods currently include ultrasound, blood tests, venography, MRI or CT. Unfortunately, none of these methods are easily transported, and because the causes of DVT often involve remaining sedentary for long periods of time (like for long flights) DVT usually goes undetected. This is a problem, as the thrombosis will typically loosen and become caught in the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism and ultimately death. Nearly half a million Americans each year pass away because of DVT complications. We therefore propose a safe, affordable and portable method of detecting DVT.

Our product was inspired by utilizing research performed in acoustics by Professor Murray Korman, USNA.

What it does

Our device drives a continuous, oscillating frequency in the form of a sine wave. In laminar flow, another transducer will receive that signal and display a sine wave. In turbulent fluids (such as we would expect from a DVT) a modulated frequency will be received instead.