Article contents
Smart Hydrogels Designed for use in Microfabricated Sensor Arrays
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 June 2013
Abstract
Hydrogels are considered smart materials because they respond to environmental stimuli. Sensors that monitor the body’s pH levels would be helpful for doctors to determine the severity of a patient’s condition, especially if they exhibit signs of shock. The motivation of this project is to create a biomedical device that can be worn sublingually or implanted into the body to help doctors with diagnosing a patient’s condition. The magnitude of the swelling/deswelling behavior can be measured by placing a sample of the hydrogel in a piezoresistive sensor. The degree of swelling/deswelling is directly proportional to the change in pH of the aqueous solution it is placed in. In this study, a variety of compositions of pH responsive hydrogels were designed and tested to determine the response time and magnitude for use in both macro and micro sensor arrays. This pressure sensor has been designed for use with thinner gels than have been used in the past. The results for swelling time and magnitude were compared to determine the effect of the thickness of the hydrogel samples on the swelling/deswelling kinetics of the material in order to find the appropriate composition, thickness and device that will yield the desired response rate and sensitivity.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1570: Symposium PP – Adaptive Soft Matter through Molecular Networks , 2013 , mrss13-1570-pp06-03
- Copyright
- Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013
References
REFERENCES
- 1
- Cited by