Title :
Thermal flow sensors on flexible substrates for minimally invasive medical instruments
Author :
Mimoun, B. ; van der Horst, Arjen ; Dekker, Ronald ; van der Voort, Dennis ; Rutten, Marcel ; van de Vosse, Frans ; Dekker, Ronald
Author_Institution :
ECTM, Delft Univ. of Technol., Delft, Netherlands
Abstract :
We present a flexible polyimide-based calorimetric thermal flow sensor featuring two thermopiles and a heating element perpendicular to the flow direction, connected to a rigid silicon chip containing the bondpads for standard wire bonding. After measurement of the temperature coefficient of resistance of the heater (TCR) and the Seebeck coefficient of the thermopiles of the sensor, the devices are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) flow channel and tested in constant power (CP) mode under both steady and dynamic flow conditions. The obtained results are in good agreement with previous research on similar, less flexible, flow sensors. The presented device can then potentially be wrapped around catheters or guidewires for intravascular blood flow assessment.
Keywords :
Seebeck effect; biomedical equipment; blood flow measurement; cardiovascular system; channel flow; flow sensors; heating elements; lead bonding; printed circuits; surgery; temperature measurement; thermopiles; CP mode; PCB flow channel; Seebeck coefficient; bondpads; constant power mode; dynamic flow condition; flexible polyimide-based calorimetry; flexible substrate; heating element; intravascular blood flow assessment; minimally invasive medical instrument; printed circuit board; resistance of the heater; standard wire bonding; steady flow condition; temperature coefficient measurement; thermal flow sensor; thermopiles; Fluid flow measurement; Heating; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors;
Conference_Titel :
Sensors, 2012 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Taipei
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1766-6
Electronic_ISBN :
1930-0395
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2012.6411429
