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SummaryWe describe the case of a patient with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome who is admitted with headaches, eye pain and reduced visual acuity. Despite thorough investigation no cause for the pain is identified. On a subsequent admission for recurrence of her symptoms her intraocular pressures are measured, which are markedly raised. Immediate medical treatment, as well as prompt weaning of her steroid therapy avoided the need for trabeculectomy surgery. We review this case and the literature surrounding this condition in children. BACKGROUND

Piezoelectric materials are widely used to generate electric charge from mechanical deformation or vice versa. These strategies are increasingly common in implantable medical devices, where sensing must be done on small scales. In the case of a flow rate sensor, a sensor’s energy harvesting rate could be mapped to that flow rate, making it ‘self-powered by design (SPD)’. Prior fluids-based SPD work has focused on turbulence-driven resonance and has been largely empirical. Here, we explore the possibility of sub-resonant SPD flow sensing in a human airway. We present a physical model of piezoelectric sensing/harvesting in the airway, which we validated with a benchtop experiment. Our work offers a model-based roadmap for implantable SPD sensing solutions. We also use the model to theorize a new form of SPD sensing that can detect broadband flow information.

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