Design of Miniature Disposable Flow Sensors for Medical Applications |
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| Jian Luo, Yenan Liu, Xiaoping Liao and Jiliang Ruan |
- Abstract:
- The demands in homecare in North America and Europe have required cost effective disposable flow sensors for avoiding cross contamination and other damages. Examples are the infusion pumps and personal ventilators. For the infusion pump applications, a miniature liquid flow sensor is required to handle the micro flow during the injection of the medicine so that a constant injection can ensure the patient with ultimate comfort and prevention of side effects. This application also requires micro-fluidic design for the flow range of 0-500 mL/hr. A MEMS flow sensor designed with the extended range capability could be the choice for this purpose. In this paper we present the design and prototype of such a sensor. The MEMS flow sensor chip with calorimetric principle is separated from the control electronics and encapsulated into a medical plastic package where a pre-manufactured micro-fluidic channel provide the path for the medicine with the sensor placed at the sidewall of the pre-manufactured flow channel. The MEMS sensors that have excellent exchangeability make it possible for disposability of the entire plastic unit.
- Keywords:
- MEMS flow sensor, Disposable flow sensor, Medical sensor
- Download:
- IMEKO-TC9-2010-102.pdf
- DOI:
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