D6.1 - Surface Micromachined Pressure Sensors for Medical Applications

Abstract

For a variety of diseases such like hypertension, hydrocephalus, or glaucoma pressure is a relevant physiological parameter.In novel treatment concepts using long term monitoring or telemedicine platforms implantable micro pressure sensor transponders gain increasing importance due to their minimal invasiveness, their capability to collect long term data and fully automated operation.Monolithic integrated capacitive pressure sensors provide some unique characteristics such as extreme miniaturization, on-chip electronics and low-power operation.These features are essential for the development of implantable devices.The basis of surface micromachined pressure sensors as well as their potential are presented in this paper with the examples of some selected medical applications.