Authors:
S. Cruz
;
D. Dias
;
J. C. Viana
and
L. A. Rocha
Affiliation:
University of Minho, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Health Monitoring Device, Flexible Pressure Mapping Systems, Flexible PCB.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Biomedical Instruments and Devices
;
Devices
;
Health Monitoring Devices
;
Human-Computer Interaction
;
Physiological Computing Systems
Abstract:
The goal of the work presented here is the development, integration and testing of an innovative technological approach to be the basis for a new product and service for markets associated with the “Health” vector. Our research focuses on a Physiological computing approach, where a polymeric flexible detection system, working as the sensing element is used as an input channel, and a computing system is responsible for the physiological signals synthesis. The proposed solution provides a simpler, lower cost and larger scale manufacturing production of polymer based sensors, along with an electronic interface and the software design. The sensing platform consists in a flexible PCB (Printed Circuit Boards) manufactured using conventional technology (defining the electrical connections and the capacitors dimensions) together with two flexible polymeric membranes (TPU) printed with conductive ink (Plexcore®) for definition of the electrodes. A Capacitance to Digital Converter (CDC) is use
d to measure the capacitance of the sensors, and a graphical interface in MATLAB allows real-time visualization of data. Current results performed on the pressure sensors indicate the feasibility of the approach.
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