Passive and contactless epidermal pressure sensor printed with silver nano-particle ink

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a passive and contactless epidermal pressure sensor patch printed on a paper substrate with silver nano-particle ink. This disposable patch can be used to measure the pressure between the clothes and the human body. Different from the conventional pressure sensors, the pressure can be measured wirelessly without disturbing the motion of the users. The sensor circuit pattern is printed by a conductive inkjet printer and the sensor's pressure value is detected by a reader coil through the change of the capacitance of an LC resonant circuit. We propose a sensor design method that minimizes the effect of the human body. We demonstrate our sensor patch by measuring the pressure exerted by compression garments whose pressure distribution is important for the wearer's health.