(AP) A company that designed sensors that can be implanted in the human body to measure strain on knee ligaments is experimenting with adapting the technology for use in assessing the conditions of bridges.

In the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse two weeks ago, Steve Arms and his company, MicroStrain Inc., are experimenting with wireless sensing technology that can provide data on strain, seismic activity and vibrations on bridges, eliminating the need to manually replace batteries once the sensors are installed in hard-to-access places.

Already in place on the Corinth Canal Bridge in Greece and an Interstate 95 bridge in New London, Connecticut, the sensors harvest energy from the sun using 6-by-9-inch photovoltaic panels. The panels are linked to rechargeable batteries and power microelectronic modules that record data from inside watertight enclosures. The data is transmitted to computers via wireless connections.

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