High Sensitivity, Wearable, Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors Based on Irregular Microhump Structures and Its Applications in Body Motion Sensing.
A pressure sensor based on irregular microhump patterns has been proposed and developed. The devices show high sensitivity and broad operating pressure regime while comparing with regular micropattern devices. Finite element analysis (FEA) is utilized to confirm the sensing mechanism and predict the performance of the pressure sensor based on the microhump structures. Silicon carbide sandpaper is employed as the mold to develop polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microhump patterns with various sizes. The active layer of the piezoresistive pressure sensor is developed by spin coating
PSS on top of the patterned PDMS. The devices show an averaged sensitivity as high as 851 kPa(-1) , broad operating pressure range (20 kPa), low operating power (100 nW), and fast response speed (6.7 kHz). Owing to their flexible properties, the devices are applied to human body motion sensing and radial artery pulse. These flexible high sensitivity devices show great potential in the next generation of smart sensors for robotics, real-time health monitoring, and biomedical applications.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|State Key Lab of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Zongrong
Z
Wang
State Key Lab of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Shan
S
Wang
Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Jifang
J
Zeng
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Xiaochen
X
Ren
Department of Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Adrian J Y
AJ
Chee
Department of Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Billy Y S
BY
Yiu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Wai Choi
WC
Chung
Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Yong
Y
Yang
Department of Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
Alfred C H
AC
Yu
Department of Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Robert C
RC
Roberts
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Anderson C O
AC
Tsang
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Kwok Wing
KW
Chow
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Paddy K L
PK
Chan
D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D009038:Motion; D000076251:Wearable Electronic Devices
flexible; microhumps; pressure sensors