Ultraminiature and Flexible Sensor Based on Interior Corner Flow for Direct Pressure Sensing in Biofluids

Conventional pressure sensing devices are well developed for either indirect evaluation or internal measuring of fluid pressure over millimeter scale. Whereas, specialized pressure sensors that can directly work in various liquid environments at micrometer scale remain challenging and rarely explored, but are of great importance in many biomedical applications. Here, pressure sensor technology that utilizes capillary action to self-assemble the pressure-sensitive element is introduced. Sophisticated control of capillary flow, tunable sensitivity to liquid pressure in various mediums, and multiple transduction modes are realized in a polymer device, which is also flexible (thickness of 8 µm), ultraminiature (effective volume of 18 × 100 × 580 µm³ ), and transparent, enabling the sensor to work in some extreme situations, such as in narrow inner spaces (e.g., a microchannel of 220 µm in width and 100 µm in height), or on the surface of small objects (e.g., a 380 µm diameter needle). Potential applications of this sensor include disposables for in vivo and short-term measurements.