What can foil sensors measure?

With their Individual design, adjustable sensor type and shape, as well as ultrathin and flexible structures, accensors, a business unit of sensor-based product developer innoME GmbH, says its foil sensors can be integrated into many new applications.

Using printing, dispensing, pick and play as well as additive or ablatable processes, accensors has developed multilayer structure, where different materials are stacked up on top of each other for different applications. A foil sensor is an electrofunctional (including at least the electrical supply lines and the sensor) element, which is stacked on a foil substrate (usually flexible and made from synthetic material) through an additive process.

While the foil substrate is the base of this structure, depending on the applications’ requirements, plastic materials such as polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyester, polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PU) and even fabric and other materials can be chosen.

The company’s portfolio of foil sensors includes temperature, pressure, impedance pH, conductivity/moisture, EMG/ECG, level, sound & sonic, oxygen, and ion-selective sensors. However, the foil sensor can be built to detect either a single parameter, multiparametric or even as a sensor array.

Pressure sensors provide an excellent example of a product with interesting applications. The CPS001-25SA-18Cu-PI25/FI is a flexible foil sensor for pressure measurements in the range from 0 mmHg to 80 mmHg, with response time <1,5 sec., accuracy of ±4.1 mmHg and a sensitivity of 2.8 %/4mmHg. Having a footprint of 35 x 35 mm, the foil sensor’s thickness is 2.20 mm in the area of the sensor element. This sensor’s PI foil material has embedded copper electrodes and is ideal for pressure bandage monitoring on patients. Other applications for the company’s foil pressure sensors include shoe soles, a sealing flange, infusion tube, measurement of body weight, the detection of forces in screw connections, or the pressure in liquid or gas-carrying systems. The capacitive pressure sensor can be configured into a pressure sensing matrix.