Health & Medicine
Miniature Pressure Sensors for Medical Touch
Staff Reporter
First Posted: Mar 05, 2012 03:25 PM EST
A new kind of flexible, transparent pressure sensor, developed at the University of California, Davis, for use in medical applications, relies on a drop of liquid.
The droplet goes in a flexible sandwich of the substance polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS. The sensor acts as a variable electrical capacitor. When the sensor is pressed down, the sensing droplet is squeezed over conductive electrodes, increasing its capacitance.
"There's a huge need for flexible sensors in biosensing," said Professor Tingrui Pan, who led the research project.
He and his colleagues used the sensor successfully in measuring the pulse in the human neck. The sensor also could be used in "smart gloves," giving physicians an enhanced ability to measure the firmness of tissues and detect tumors, and in "smart contact lenses," to monitor intraocular pressure without affecting vision.
Source: University of California - Davis
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: Mar 05, 2012 03:25 PM EST
A new kind of flexible, transparent pressure sensor, developed at the University of California, Davis, for use in medical applications, relies on a drop of liquid.
The droplet goes in a flexible sandwich of the substance polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS. The sensor acts as a variable electrical capacitor. When the sensor is pressed down, the sensing droplet is squeezed over conductive electrodes, increasing its capacitance.
"There's a huge need for flexible sensors in biosensing," said Professor Tingrui Pan, who led the research project.
He and his colleagues used the sensor successfully in measuring the pulse in the human neck. The sensor also could be used in "smart gloves," giving physicians an enhanced ability to measure the firmness of tissues and detect tumors, and in "smart contact lenses," to monitor intraocular pressure without affecting vision.
Source: University of California - Davis
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone