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SCIENCE
Hitesh1, Abhijeet Kumar2, Sachin Kumar3
1
M.Tech student, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, M.M.U Mullana, Haryana, India
2
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, M.M.U Mullana, Haryana, India
3
M.Tech student, Department of Electrical Engineering, M.M.U Mullana, Haryana, India
INTRODUCTION
Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) is a technology
that combines computers with tiny mechanical devices such as
sensors, valves, gears, mirrors, and actuators embedded in
semiconductor chips. MEMS are already used as
accelerometers in automobile air-bags. They have replaced a
less reliable device at lower cost and show promise of being
able to inflate a bag not only on the basis of the size of the
person they are protecting. Basically, a MEMS device
contains micro-circuitry on a tiny silicon chip into which
some mechanical device as a mirror or a sensor has been
manufactured. Other names for this general field include
micro-systems, popular in Europe, and micro-machines,
popular in Asia.
MICRO-SENSORS IN BIOMEDICAL FIELD
The majority of MEMS used in biomedical applications act
as sensors. Examples include critical sensors used during
surgery (i.e., measuring intravascular blood pressure), longterm sensors for prosthetic devices, and highly sophisticated
sensor array for rapid lab-quality diagnosis at home.
Fig: 1 Donut-shaped MEMS pressure sensor built into digital blood pressure
monitors.
PIEZORESISTIVE SENSOR
The piezoresistive effect in silicon has been widely used
for implementing pressure sensors. A pressure induced strain
deforms the silicon band structure, thus changing the
resistivity of the material. The piezoresistive effect is typically
crystal-orientation dependent and is also affected by doping
and temperature. A practical piezoresistive pressure sensor can
be implemented by fabricating four sensing resistors along the
edges of a thin silicon diaphragm, which acts as a mechanical
amplifier to increase the stress and strain at the sensor site.
The four sensing elements are connected in a bridge
configuration with push-pull signals to increase the sensitivity.
The measurable pressure range for such a sensor can be from
103 to 106 torr, depending on the design.
CAPACITIVE SENSOR
Capacitive pressure sensors are attractive because
they are virtually temperature independent and
consume zero DC power. The devices do not
exhibit initial turn-on drift and are stable over
time. Furthermore, CMOS microelectronic circuits
can be readily interfaced with the sensors to
provide advanced signal conditioning and
processing, thus improving overall system
performance. An example of a capacitive
pressure sensor is shown in figure shown below.
The device consists of an edge-clamped silicon
diaphragm suspended over a vacuum cavity. The
diaphragm can be square or circular with a
typical thickness of a few micrometers and a
length or radius of a few hundred micrometers,
respectively.
Fig 4: working concept behind the strain gauge on a beam under exaggerated
bending.
Fig: 3 Cross-sectional schematic of a capacitive pressure
sensor
BIOMECHANICS MICRO-SENSORS
STRAIN GAUGES
A strain gauge is a device used to measure the strain of an
object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge
in 1938. The most common type of strain gauge consists of
an insulating flexible backing which supports a metallic foil
pattern. The gauge is attached to the object by a suitable
adhesive. As the object is deformed, the foil is deformed,
causing its electrical resistance to change. This resistance
change, usually measured using a Wheatstone bridge, is
related to the strain by the quantity known as the gauge factor.
Since silicon is an excellent piezoresistive material (i.e., its
resistance changes as a function of applied force), it can be
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