Design and Development of a Highly Performant 3-D Flexible Microforce Sensor for Miniature Biomedical Applications

Microforce sensors capable of measuring multiple degrees of freedom are in wide demand in miniature medical applications, but they are currently not available on a large scale due to high cost, fragility, and limited resolution. Therefore, this article presents a low-cost 3-D microforce sensor based on hybrid carbon/polymer-based soft piezoresistive (HCP) films with high sensitivity and robustness, as well as low thermal drift and hysteresis. Besides, due to the difficulty of constructing an accurate model to calibrate the flexible material-based sensor, this article employs data-based calibration methods to achieve fast calibration. In addition, the developed prototype is continuously and dynamically tested from hundreds of micronewtons to dozens of millinewtons. The developed sensor is experimentally proven to be highly sensitive, durable, low cost, self-decoupling, and impact-resistant for potential miniature biomedical applications.