Wearable Sensor for Medical Applications

Technical Summary:

This device utilizes a novel graphene/P(VDF-TrFE) heterostructure based highly sensitive, flexible and biocompatible piezoresistive pressure/strain sensor device through a facile and lowcost fabrication technique. The sensor device is completely self-powered and requires no additional power to operate. The high piezoelectric coefficient of P(VDF-TrFE) coupled with
outstanding electrical properties of graphene makes the sensor device highly sensitive, with a maximum sensitivity of 0.89 kPa-1, a gauge factor 482, and signal-to-noise ratio of 26.4 dB in the range of pressure up to 45 mmHg. An additional attribute of our sensor is that it can be attached to human body such as wrist and knee to detect the human activity (e.g., multi-joint movement, standing, walking, and running) in a given sequence with a fast response time in the ms region. Keeping in mind its high sensitivity, ultra-thin nature, flexibility and biocompatibility, it can be easily integrated in fabrics for truly wearable sensor applications, which is a rapidly expanding field. Moreover, the sensor is a strong candidate for medical applications such as in vivo cardiovascular, blood, urinary bladder pressure, glucose pressure monitoring.