A System to Track Stent Location in the Human Body by Fusing Magnetometer and Accelerometer Measurements.

This paper will introduce a simple locating system to track a stent when it is deployed into a human artery. The stent is proposed to achieve hemostasis for bleeding soldiers on the battlefield, where common surgical imaging equipment such as fluoroscopy systems are not available. In the application of interest, the stent must be guided to the right location to avoid serious complications. The most important features are its relative accuracy and the ease by which it may be quickly set up and used in a trauma situation. The locating approach in this paper utilizes a magnet outside the human body as the reference and a magnetometer that will be deployed inside the artery with the stent. The sensor can detect its location in a coordinate system centered with the reference magnet. In practice, the main challenge is that the locating accuracy will be deteriorated by external magnetic interference, rotation of the sensor, and random noise. These causes of error are addressed in the paper to improve the locating accuracy and repeatability under various conditions. Finally, the system's locating performance will be validated in benchtop experiments, where the effects of the disturbance-eliminating procedures will be addressed.

PDMS-Zwitterionic Hybrid for Facile, Antifouling Microfluidic Device Fabrication.

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) has been used in a wide range of biomedical devices and medical research due to its biostability, cytocompatibility, gas permeability, and optical properties. Yet, some properties of PDMS create critical limitations, particularly fouling through protein and cell adhesion. In this study, a diallyl-terminated sulfobetaine (SB-diallyl) molecule was synthesized and then directly mixed with a commercial PDMS base (Sylgard 184) and curing agent to produce a zwitterionic group-bearing PDMS (PDMS-SB) hybrid that does not require a complex or an additional surface modification process for the desired end product. In vitro examination of antifouling behavior following exposure to fresh ovine blood showed a significant reduction in platelet deposition for the PDMS-SB hybrid surface compared to that of a PDMS control (p < 0.05, n = 5). The manufacturability via soft lithography using the synthesized polymers was found to be comparable to that for unmodified PDMS. Bonding via O2 plasma treatment was confirmed, and the strength was measured and again found to be comparable to the control. PDMS-SB microfluidic devices were successfully fabricated and showed improved blood compatibility that could reduce channel occlusion due to clot formation relative to PDMS control devices. Further, gas (CO2) transfer through a PDMS-SB hybrid membrane was also tested with a proof-of-concept microchannel device and shown to be comparable to that through the PDMS control.

Precision Measurement of Phonon-Polaritonic Near-Field Energy Transfer between Macroscale Planar Structures Under Large Thermal Gradients.

Despite its strong potentials in emerging energy applications, near-field thermal radiation between large planar structures has not been fully explored in experiments. Particularly, it is extremely challenging to control a subwavelength gap distance with good parallelism under large thermal gradients. This article reports the precision measurement of near-field radiative energy transfer between two macroscale single-crystalline quartz plates that support surface phonon polaritons. Our measurement scheme allows the precise control of a gap distance down to 200 nm in a highly reproducible manner for a surface area of 5×5 mm^{2}. We have measured near-field thermal radiation as a function of the gap distance for a broad range of thermal gradients up to ∼156 K, observing more than 40 times enhancement of thermal radiation compared to the blackbody limit. By comparing with theoretical prediction based on fluctuational electrodynamics, we demonstrate that such remarkable enhancement is owing to phonon-polaritonic energy transfer across a nanoscale vacuum gap.

Cheerios Effect Controlled by Electrowetting.

The Cheerios effect is a common phenomenon in which small floating objects are either attracted or repelled by the sidewall due to capillary interaction. This attractive or repulsive behavior is highly dependent on the slope angles (angles of the interface on the wall or floating object with respect to a horizontal line) that can be mainly controlled by the wettability of the wall and floating object and the density of the object. In this paper, electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) is implemented to the wall or floating object in order to actively control the wettability and thus capillary interaction. As such, the capillary force on buoyant and dense floating objects can be easily switched between repulsion and attraction by simply applying an electrical input. In addition, the theoretical prediction for the capillary force is verified experimentally by measuring the motion of floating particle and the critical contact angle on the wall at which the capillary force changes from attraction to repulsion. This successive verification is enabled by the merit of EWOD that allows for continuous change in the contact angle. Finally, the control method is extended to continuously move a floating object along a linear path and to continuously rotate a dumbbell-like floating object in centimeter scales using arrays of EWOD electrodes. A continuous linear motion is also accomplished in a smaller scale where the channel width (3 mm) is comparable to the capillary length.

3-D real-time ultrasound tracking of acoustically actuated swimming microdrone.

Maneuverable microswimmers/microdrones that navigate in hard-to-reach spaces inside human bodies hold a great potential for various biomedical applications. Acoustically actuated microswimmers have already demonstrated feasibility. However, for eventual translation of this technology, a robust 3-D tracking strategy for the microswimmer is particularly required. This paper presents our lab-designed 3-D ultrasound tracking system for real-time tracking of an acoustically actuated 3-D swimming microdrone. The ultrasound tracking system utilizing two ultrasound probes, a step motor and a host controller, was built to track the 3-D arbitrary motion of the microdrone in real-time. The performance of tracking was evaluated in the benchtop experiments by comparing the reconstructed trajectories with synchronized camera recordings. The ultrasound tracking system showed high reliability, with an average error of less than 0.3 mm across six different trials when compared to camera tracking. The results demonstrated the capability of our lab-designed 3-D ultrasound tracking system in accurately tracking the undetermined motion of the acoustic actuated 3-D swimming microdrone in real-time. The developed tracking system holds promise as a potential approach for biomedical applications and could pave the way for future clinical translation of the microswimmer technology.

Synovial joint-on-a-chip for modeling arthritis: progress, pitfalls, and potential.

Disorders of the synovial joint, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), afflict a substantial proportion of the global population. However, current clinical management has not been focused on fully restoring the native function of joints. Organ-on-chip (OoC), also called a microphysiological system, which typically accommodates multiple human cell-derived tissues/organs under physiological culture conditions, is an emerging platform that potentially overcomes the limitations of current models in developing therapeutics. Herein, we review major steps in the generation of OoCs for studying arthritis, discuss the challenges faced when these novel platforms enter the next phase of development and application, and present the potential for OoC technology to investigate the pathogenesis of joint diseases and the development of efficacious therapies.

In vitro and In vivo assessment of a novel organ perfusion stent for successful flow separation in donation after cardiac death.

Shortage of healthy donors' organs has appeared as one of the main challenges for organ transplantation. This study focuses on the novel endovascular device development to increase the number of available organs from cardiac death donors. The primary objective of this study is the design validation of a newly developed stent graft for the abdominal organ perfusion with cardiac blood flow isolation. In this paper, the effectiveness of the device design has been validated via the assessment of the device performance both in vitro and in vivo. The radial force of stent structure was first numerically analyzed using finite element method, then was quantified experimentally. The blood perfusion parameters were investigated to demonstrate their effect on the blood delivered to the abdominal organs, maintaining the organs healthy for donation. In vitro flow leakage was measured using a 3-D printing-based silicone aortic model to evaluate the isolation between cardiac flow and perfusion flow with minimum values. Following the design validation process, a functional prototype stent graft has been successfully fabricated using optimized laser welding conditions and subsequent joining processes. In vivo porcine study results have demonstrated smooth delivery and successful placement of the device showing complete cardiac flow separation isolating abdominal regions only with the oxygenated blood flow.

Dielectrowetting Control of Capillary Force (Cheerios Effect) between Floating Objects and Wall for Dielectric Fluid.

A capillary interaction between floating objects and adjacent walls, which is known as "Cheerios effect", is a common phenomenon that generates capillary attraction or repulsion forces between them depending on their wettabilities, densities, geometries, and so on. This paper deals with controlling the capillary forces, specifically, acting on objects floating on a dielectric (non-conductive) fluid. A key control input parameter is the wettability (contact angle) of the sidewall adjacent to the floating object. By introducing dielectrowetting to the sidewall and actively changing the contact angle on the sidewall, the capillary force is controlled and easily reversed between attraction and repulsion. In this reversing process, the tilting angle of the sidewall is another critical parameter. A theoretical relation taking the titling angle into account is compared and in good agreement with experimental results obtained from the trajectory of the floating object. Finally, a continuous motion of the floating object is demonstrated using this control where an array of dielectrowetting electrode pads is sequentially activated.

3-D swimming microdrone powered by acoustic bubbles.

Mobile microrobots that maneuver in liquid environments and navigate inside the human body have drawn a great interest due to their possibility for medical uses serving as an in vivo cargo. For this system, the effective self-propelling method, which should be powered wirelessly and controllable in 3-D space, is of paramount importance. This article describes a bubble-powered swimming microdrone that can navigate in 3-D space in a controlled manner. To enable 3-D propulsion with steering capability, air bubbles of three lengths are trapped in microtubes that are embedded and three-dimensionally aligned inside the drone body using two-photon polymerization. These bubbles can generate on-demand 3-D propulsion through microstreaming when they are selectively excited at their individual resonance frequencies that depend on the bubble sizes. In order to equip the drone with highly stable maneuverability, a non-uniform mass distribution of the drone body is carefully designed to spontaneously restore the drone to the upright position from disturbances. A mathematical model of the restoration mechanism is developed to predict the restoration behavior showing a good agreement with the experimental data. The present swimming microdrone potentially lends itself to a robust 3-D maneuverable microscale mobile cargo navigating in vitro and in vivo for biomedical applications.

Breath Acetone Sensing Based on Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Titanium Dioxide Hybrids Enabled by a Custom-Built Dehumidifier.

Acetone is a metabolic byproduct found in the exhaled breath and can be measured to monitor the metabolic degree of ketosis. In this state, the body uses free fatty acids as its main source of fuel because there is limited access to glucose. Monitoring ketosis is important for type I diabetes patients to prevent ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal condition, and individuals adjusting to a low-carbohydrate diet. Here, we demonstrate that a chemiresistor fabricated from oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with titanium dioxide (SWCNT@TiO2) can be used to detect acetone in dried breath samples. Initially, due to the high cross sensitivity of the acetone sensor to water vapor, the acetone sensor was unable to detect acetone in humid gas samples. To resolve this cross-sensitivity issue, a dehumidifier was designed and fabricated to dehydrate the breath samples. Sensor response to the acetone in dried breath samples from three volunteers was shown to be linearly correlated with the two other ketone bodies, acetoacetic acid in urine and ß-hydroxybutyric acid in the blood. The breath sampling and analysis methodology had a calculated acetone detection limit of 1.6 ppm and capable of detecting up to at least 100 ppm of acetone, which is the dynamic range of breath acetone for someone with ketosis. Finally, the application of the sensor as a breath acetone detector was studied by incorporating the sensor into a handheld prototype breathalyzer.

A biostable, anti-fouling zwitterionic polyurethane-urea based on PDMS for use in blood-contacting medical devices.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is commonly used in medical devices because it is non-toxic and stable against oxidative stress. Relatively high blood platelet adhesion and the need for chemical crosslinking through curing, however, limit its utility. In this research, a biostable PDMS-based polyurethane-urea bearing zwitterion sulfobetaine (PDMS-SB-UU) was synthesized for potential use in the fabrication or coating of blood-contacting devices, such as a conduits, artificial lungs, and microfluidic devices. The chemical structure and physical properties of synthesized PDMS-SB-UU were confirmed by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and uniaxial stress-strain curve. In vitro stability of PDMS-SB-UU was confirmed against lipase and 30% H2O2 for 8 weeks, and PDMS-SB-UU demonstrated significantly higher resistance to fibrinogen adsorption and platelet deposition compared to control PDMS. Moreover, PDMS-SB-UU showed a lack of hemolysis and cytotoxicity with whole ovine blood and rat vascular smooth muscle cells (rSMCs), respectively. The PDMS-SB-UU was successfully processed into small-diameter (0.80 ± 0.05 mm) conduits by electrospinning and coated onto PDMS- and polypropylene-based blood-contacting biomaterials due to its unique physicochemical characteristics from its soft- and hard- segments.

A three-tier Rescue stent improves outcomes over balloon occlusion in a porcine model of noncompressible hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Noncompressible hemorrhage remains a high-mortality injury, and aortic balloon occlusion poses limitations in terms of distal ischemic injury. Our hypothesis was that a retrievable Rescue stent would confer improved outcome over aortic balloon occlusion. METHODS: A three-tier, retrievable stent graft was laser welded from nitinol and polytetrafluoroethylene to provide rapid thoracic and abdominal coverage with an interval bare metal segment to preserve visceral flow. Anesthetized swine had injury of the thoracic or abdominal aorta followed by balloon occlusion or a Rescue stent. A 1-hour long damage-control phase with blood repletion was used to simulate the prolonged interval between injury and repair, especially in the battlefield setting. Following the damage-control phase, the balloon or stent were retrieved followed by vascular repair and recovery to 48 hours. Animals were compared in terms of hemodynamics, blood loss, neurophysiologic spinal cord ischemia, ischemic organ injury, and survival. RESULTS: Despite antegrade hemorrhage control, balloon occlusion averaged 3.5 L of retrograde hemorrhage, loss of visceral perfusion, and permanent spinal cord ischemia by neurophysiology in six of seven animals. After permanent repair, all balloon occlusion animals died with only a single short term (5 hours) survivor. Conversely, Rescue stent animals revealed rapid hemorrhage control (in under 2 minutes) whether the injury was thoracic or abdominal with improved hemodynamics, preserved visceral flow, reduced spinal cord ischemia, negligible histologic organ injury and survival to end of study in all abdominal injured animals (n = 6) and four of six thoracic injured animals, with two deaths related to arrhythmia. CONCLUSION: Compared with aortic balloon occlusion, a Rescue stent offers superior hemorrhage control and survival by virtue of reduced ischemic injury and direct control of the hemorrhagic injury. The Rescue stent may become a useful tool for damage control, especially on the battlefield where definitive repair presents logistical challenges.

Antifouling digital microfluidics using lubricant infused porous film.

Electrowetting-driven digital (droplet-based) microfluidics has a tremendous impact on lab-on-a-chip applications. However, the biofouling problem impedes the real applications of such digital microfluidics. Here we report antifouling digital microfluidics by introducing lubricant infused porous film to electrowetting (more exactly, electrowetting on dielectric or EWOD). Such film minimizes direct contact between droplets and the solid surface but provides liquid-liquid contact between droplets and the lubricant liquid, which thus prevents unspecific adsorption of biomolecules to the solid surface. We demonstrate the compatibility of the lubricant infused film with EWOD to transport bio droplets. This configuration shows robust and high performance even for long cyclic operations without fouling in a wide range of concentrations of protein solutions. In addition, a variety of conductive droplets, including deionized (DI) water, saline, protein solution, DNA solution, sheep blood, milk, ionic liquid and honey, are examined, similarly showing high performance in cyclic transportations. In addition, using the same electrode patterns used in EWOD, transportations of dielectric (non-conductive) droplets including light crude oil, propylene carbonate and alcohol are also achieved. Such capability of droplet handling without fouling will certainly benefit the practical applications of digital microfluidics in droplet handling, sampling, reaction, diagnosis in clinic medicine, biotechnology and chemistry fields.

Ultrasound Tracking of the Acoustically Actuated Microswimmer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the ultrasound tracking strategy for the acoustically actuated bubble-based microswimmer. METHODS: The ultrasound tracking performance is evaluated by comparing the tracking results with the camera tracking. A benchtop experiment is conducted to capture the motion of two types of microswimmers by synchronized ultrasound and camera systems. A laboratory developed tracking algorithm is utilized to estimate the trajectory for both tracking methods. RESULTS: The trajectory reconstructed from ultrasound tracking method compares well with the conventional camera tracking, exhibiting a high accuracy and robustness for three different types of moving trajectories. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound tracking is an accurate and reliable approach to track the motion of the acoustically actuated microswimmers. SIGNIFICANCE: Ultrasound imaging is a promising candidate for noninvasively tracking the motion of microswimmers inside the body in biomedical applications and may further promote the real-time control strategy for the microswimmers.

A novel customizable stent graft that contains a stretchable ePTFE with a laser-welded nitinol stent.

Customizable medical devices have recently attracted attentions both in dental and orthopedic device fields, which can tailor to the patients' anatomy to reduce the length of surgery time and to improve the clinical outcomes. However, development of the patient specific endovascular device still remains challenging due to the limitations in current 3D printing technology, specifically for the stent grafts. Therefore, our group has investigated the feasibility of a highly stretchable expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) tube as a customizable graft material with the laser-welded nitinol backbone. In this study, a highly stretchable ePTFE tube was evaluated in terms of mechanical behaviors, in vitro biocompatibility of ePTFE with various stretchiness levels, and capability for the integration with the laser-welded customizable nitinol stent backbone. A prototype stent graft for the swine's venous size was successfully constructed and tested in the porcine model. This study demonstrates the ability of ePTFE tube to customize the stent graft without any significant issue, for example, sweating through the stretched pores in the ePTFE tube, as well as in vivo feasibility of the device for bleeding control. This novel customizable stent graft would offer possibilities for a wide range of both current and next-generation endovascular applications for the treatment in vascular injuries or diseases. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 911-923, 2019.

Damage control of caval injuries in a porcine model using a retrievable Rescue stent.

OBJECTIVE: Early hemorrhage control before the operating room is essential to reduce the significant mortality associated with traumatic injuries of the vena cava. Conventional approaches present logistical challenges on the battlefield or in the trauma bay. A retrievable stent graft would allow rapid hemorrhage control in the preoperative setting when endovascular expertise is not immediately available and without committing a patient to the limitations of current permanent stents. This study details a refined retrievable Rescue stent for percutaneous delivery that was examined in a porcine survival model of penetrating caval hemorrhage. METHODS: A retrievable caval stent was reduced in delivery profile to a 9F sheath using finite element analysis. The final stent was constructed with a "petal and stem" design using nitinol wire followed by covering with polytetrafluoroethylene. Seven Yorkshire pigs (79-86 kg) underwent 22F injury of the infrarenal vena cava with intentional class II hemorrhage (1200 mL). Percutaneous deployment of the Rescue stent was used to temporize hemorrhage for 60 minutes, followed by resuscitation with cell saver blood and permanent caval repair. Hemorrhage control was documented with photography and angiography. Vital signs were recorded and laboratory values were measured out to 48 hours postoperatively. Data were examined with a repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: The profile of the caval Rescue stent was successfully reduced from 16F to 9F while remaining within fracture and shape memory limits for nitinol. In addition, both rapid deployment and recapture were preserved. Following intentional hemorrhage after caval injury, animals revealed a significant drop in mean arterial pressure (average, 30 mm Hg), acidosis, and elevated lactate level compared with before injury. Compared with uncontrolled hemorrhage, which resulted in death in <9 minutes, the Rescue stent achieved hemorrhage control in <1 minute after venous access in all seven animals. All animals were successfully recovered after permanent repair. There was no significant change in levels of transaminases, bilirubin, creatinine, or hemoglobin at 48 hours compared with preinjury baseline. CONCLUSIONS: A retrievable Rescue stent achieved rapid percutaneous hemorrhage control after a significant traumatic injury of the vena cava and allowed successful recovery of all injured animals. Further development of this approach may have utility in preoperative damage control of caval injuries.

Micro air bubble manipulation by electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD): transporting, splitting, merging and eliminating of bubbles.

This paper describes various manipulations of micro air bubbles using electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD): transporting, splitting, merging and eliminating. First, in order to understand the response of bubbles to EWOD, the contact angle modulation is measured in a capped air bubble and confirmed to be in good agreement with the Lippmann-Young equation until saturation. Based on the contact angle measurement, testing devices for the bubble manipulations are designed and fabricated. Sequential activations of patterned electrodes generate continuous bubble transportations. Bubble splitting is successfully realized by activating a single electrode positioned in the middle of bubble base. However, it is found that there are criteria that make splitting possible only in certain conditions. For successful splitting, smaller channel gap, larger bubble size, wider splitting electrode and/or larger contact angle changes by EWOD are preferred. These criteria are verified by a series of experiments as well as a static analysis. Bubble merging is achieved by moving bubbles towards each other in two different channel configurations: (1) channel I, where bubbles are in contact with the bottom channel plate only, and (2) channel II, where bubbles in contact with the top as well as bottom channel plates. Furthermore, eliminating a bubble to the ambient air is accomplished. All the bubble manipulation techniques may provide a versatile integrated platform not only to manipulate micro objects by utilizing micro bubbles as micro carriers, but also to enable a discrete bubble-based gas analysis system.

Concentration and binary separation of micro particles for droplet-based digital microfluidics.

This paper describes a concept of concentration and binary separation of particles and its experimental confirmations for digital microfluidics where droplets are driven by the mechanism of electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD). As a fundamental separation unit, a binary separation scheme is developed, separating two different types of particles in one droplet into two droplets, one type each. The separation scheme consists of three distinctive steps, each with their own challenges: (1) isolate two different types of particles by electrophoresis into two regions inside a mother droplet, (2) physically split the mother droplet into two daughter droplets by EWOD actuation so that each type of particle is concentrated in each daughter droplet, and (3) free the daughter droplets from the separation site by EWOD to ready them for follow-up microfluidic operations. By applying a similar procedure to a droplet containing only one type of particle, two daughter droplets of different particle concentrations can be created. Using negatively charged carboxylate modified latex (CML) particles, 83% of the total particles are concentrated in a daughter droplet. Successful binary separation is also demonstrated using negatively charged CML particles and no-charge-treated polystyrene particles. Despite the undesired vortex developed inside the mother droplet, about 70% of the total CML particles are concentrated in one daughter droplet while about 70% of the total polystyrene particles are concentrated in the other daughter droplet.

Dielectrowetting manipulation for digital microfluidics: creating, transporting, splitting, and merging of droplets.

Generating, splitting, transporting, and merging droplets are fundamental and critical unit operations for digital (droplet-based) microfluidics. State-of-the-art digital microfluidics performs such operations commonly using electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) in the typical configuration of two parallel channel plates. This paper presents such operations using dielectrowetting (derived from liquid dielectrophoresis), not EWOD, with an array of interdigitated electrodes. The major and unique feature is that the present droplet manipulations are effective for conductive (water with/without surfactant) and non-conductive (propylene carbonate) fluids. An equally important aspect is that the manipulations are performed in an open space without the covering top plate. This behavior is attributed to the intrinsic nature of dielectrowetting to generate stronger wetting forces than EWOD (with the ability to achieve complete wetting with contact angle = 0° to form a thin film). Using dielectrowetting, micro-droplets of various volumes are created from a large droplet and transported. Splitting a single droplet as well as multiple droplets and merging them are also achieved, even when the droplets are smaller than the electrode pads. The above splitting, transport, and merging operations are effective for propylene carbonate as well as DI water with/without surfactant, though the creating operation is proven only for propylene carbonate at this moment. All the above manipulations are successfully carried out on a single plate, which not only simplifies the structure and operation procedure, but could also eliminate the restriction to the volume of fluid handled.

A retrievable rescue stent graft and radiofrequency positioning for rapid control of noncompressible hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Noncompressible hemorrhage of the torso remains a challenging surgical dilemma. Stent graft repair requires endovascular expertise, imaging, and inventory that are not available within the critical window of massive hemorrhage. We developed a retrievable stent graft for rapid hemorrhage. We further investigated a radiofrequency (RF) positioning approach as a possible alternative to the logistics of fluoroscopy. METHODS: A retrievable stent graft was constructed with a novel "petal and stem" design from nitinol and covered with a sleeve of electrospun polyurethane. The stent graft was tested using an in vitro model of simulated hemorrhage. Next, the stent graft was examined in vivo using a porcine model of noncompressible hemorrhage. The stent was examined for hemorrhage control in a porcine model of either aortic or caval injury. An RF reader was assembled from an Arduino processor while RF tags were affixed to the ends of the stent graft. Detection accuracy of a handheld RF wand for an RF tag was quantified both in vitro and through tissue. RESULTS: The retrievable RESCUEstent graft was deployed within minutes and rapidly controlled traumatic hemorrhage angiographically in both aortic injury (n = 3) and caval injury (n = 2). Stent grafts were easily recaptured in both models in under 15 seconds. The LED light of a handheld RF detector illuminated when positioned directly over an RF tag. The RF detection approach revealed positioning accuracy to within 1 cm of the intended target, despite tissue interference. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the rapid deployment and retrieval of a RESCUE stent graft as well as the ability to tamponade injuries of the aorta and cava. In addition, this study demonstrates the feasibility of RF tags to guide stent placement through tissue. More rigorous models are needed to define the effectiveness of this approach in the setting of vascular injury and shock.