A Wearable Sensor Using Structured Silver-Particle Reinforced PDMS for Radial Arterial Pulse Wave Monitoring.

Human pulse signals contain important and useful physiological information for the auxiliary diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. Here, a wearable pulse sensor based on piezo-thermic transduction is reported using a structured silver-particle reinforced polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane, for monitoring radial arterial pulse waves. The structured silver-particle reinforced PDMS membrane is optimally designed to meet the specific requirements on sensitivity, linearity, and effective preload measuring range for pulse detection by adjusting the air gap volume fraction and silver particle volume fraction of the structured material. The sensor is endowed with high sensitivity, good linearity in preload measuring range, allowing to detect the subtle pulse waveforms of subjects at different ages under different contact pressures, such as superficial (Fu), medium (Zhong) and deep (Chen). The developed pulse device provides a promising approach for homecare pulse monitoring.