MEMS熱流束センサによるウェアラブル深部体温計の提案

Abstract

Core temperature measurements are very important in the field of healthcare. For example, core temperature measurements are effective for the prevention hyperthermia or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Although frequent measurements are ideal, invasive methods such as esophageal, and rectal methods are not suitable for daily use. We propose a core temperature estimation method that uses heat flux sensor placed on the skin. While basic heat flux sensors consist of two temperature sensors and a heat insulator between them, they are too large for use as wearable sensors. We have been developing a miniaturized micro electromechanical system (MEMS) heat flux sensor that consists of a micro membrane structure and thermopile. We achieved MEMS chip size of 2.9 × 1.9 × 0.4 mm and the core-temperature estimation accuracy has a mean error of ±0.5°C.