Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT)/PDMS-based Flexible Sensor for Medical Applications

Flexible sensors using functional materials have been extensively studied due to their significant potential in biomedical applications such as wearable electronics. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) that have excellent electrical conductivity enables polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a biocompatible silicone, to become conductive and piezoresistive as a nano-filler material in the polymer. Dispersion methods of MWCNT in PDMS and characterization of MWCNT/PDMS elastomers are analyzed to establish an optimal fabrication process. The fabricated MWCNT/PDMS-based flexible sensors have been implemented for two medical applications: 1) tactile sensing for a robotic hand for rehabilitation tasks and 2) strain sensing within a needle for in situ tissue characterization. Since the developed piezoresistive type of sensors are highly flexible, responsive, easy to scale, cost-effective, simply packaged, and biocompatible, they have numerous applications in the biomedical field.