Biomimetic flow sensors for biomedical flow sensing in intravenous tubes

摘要

A MEMS piezoresistive flow rate sensor inspired by the hair cell sensor found in the fish lateral line system has been composed and fabricated. The sensor has been bonded with a 3D printed fixture and they together have been integrated on a intravenous tube. The responses of the sensor with respect to flow rates between 100 mL/h and 500 mL/h have been tested using a experimental setup, the flow rate in which has been controlled by a peristaltic pump. The sensor shows a transient phase and a stable phase response. Features such as the time interval T between the two peaks in the transient phase, the slope Sfast of the fast drop region and the voltage average Vaverage in the stabilized region have been abstracted. These features have shown monotonic decreasing relationship with the flow rate increasing and can be used to monitor the flow rate in the IV tube in the future.