Flexible Pressure Sensors Based on Microcrack Structure and Composite Conductive Mechanism for Medical Robotic Applications

Abstract

With the advancement of intelligent medical robot technology, machine touch utilizing flexible sensors has emerged as a prominent research area. In this study, a flexible resistive pressure sensor was designed incorporating a microcrack structure with air pores and a composite conductive mechanism of silver/carbon. The aim was to achieve enhanced stability and sensitivity with the inclusion of macro through-holes (1–3 mm) to expand the sensitive range. This technology solution was specifically applied to the machine touch system of the B-ultrasound robot. Through meticulous experimentation, it was determined that the optimal approach involved uniformly blending ecoflex and nano carbon powder at a mass ratio of 5:1, and subsequently combining the mixture with an ethanol solution of silver nanowires (AgNWs) at a mass ratio of 6:1. This combination of components resulted in the fabrication of a pressure sensor with optimal performance. Under the pressure testing condition of 5 kPa, a comparison of the resistance change rate was conducted among samples using the optimal formulation from the three processes. It was evident that the sample of ecoflex-C-AgNWs/ethanol solution exhibited the highest sensitivity. Its sensitivity was increased by 19.5% compared to the sample (ecoflex-C) and by 11.3% compared to the sample (ecoflex-C-ethanol). The sample (ecoflex-C-AgNWs/ethanol solution), which only incorporated internal air pore microcracks without through-holes, exhibited sensitive response to pressures below 5 N. However, with the addition of through-holes, the measurement range of its sensitive response increased to 20 N, representing a 400% increase in the measurement range.