Abstract
Application fields of micromachined devices are growing very rapidly due to the continuous improvement of three dimensional technologies of micro-fabrication. In particular, applications of micromachined sensors to monitor gas and liquid flows hold immense potential because of their valuable characteristics (e.g., low energy consumption, relatively good accuracy, the ability to measure very small flow, and small size). Moreover, the feedback provided by integrating microflow sensors to micro mass flow controllers is essential to deliver accurately set target small flows. This paper is a review of some application areas in the biomedical field of micromachined flow sensors, such as blood flow, respiratory monitoring, and drug delivery among others. Particular attention is dedicated to the description of the measurement principles utilized in early and current research. Finally, some observations about characteristics and issues of these devices are also reported.
Highlights
The measurement of gas and liquid flowrates is an essential requirement in many industrial and commercial applications
The growing interest in research activities related to micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMSs) is demonstrated by the vast scientific literature and the several hundred companies dedicated to micromachined systems
The results reported in the abovementioned research, the common use of hot wire anemometers in commercially available mechanical ventilators, and the growing interest in MEMS applications, encouraged some researchers to develop micromachined multipurpose flow sensors [44]
Summary
The measurement of gas and liquid flowrates is an essential requirement in many industrial and commercial applications. The growing interest in research activities related to MEMS is demonstrated by the vast scientific literature and the several hundred companies dedicated to micromachined systems This growth is mainly due to some crucial advantages of micromachined flow sensors compared to large-scale ones, such as better dynamic characteristics, low power consumption, reduced mass, small size, and cost-effectiveness thanks to batch-fabrication, among other attributes. The vast majority of MEMS implemented in biomedical applications are sensors for monitoring many physical parameters such as pressure, acceleration, and fluid flow among others They are commonly used in orthopedic research field in the study of muscles and patient’s posture, in the monitoring of blood flow, in the measurement of pressure, such as intravascular blood pressure [7], in microsurgery [8], bladder and intraocular applications [9] and in measurement of cerebro-spinal fluid pressure [10].
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