Developing Integrated MEMS Products for Medical and Industrial Markets

Abstract

Aims: As the trend in technology is shifting toward smaller and more compact devices with requirements for more accurate measurement systems, new sensors and components enabling this trend are also being brought to market. Micro electromechanical sensors (MEMS) and devices utilizing these components are finding new applications in mobile and hand-held devices, mobile robotics and navigation. Inertial sensors have been shown to be subject to a number of different error sources such as temperature and integration drifts and other biases mostly caused by the sensitivity of the sensors as well as by external disturbances [1-5]. However, due to recent advances in MEMS technologies, these errors are better controllable. Study Design: This paper describes recent developments in the field of MEMS with proof-of-concept devices for a variety of sensing applications. Our recent research has focused on monitoring of human vital signs and displacement tracking of controlled and free-hand motions. Results: In this study, we demonstrate that current commercial off-the-shelf MEMS based inertial measurement units (IMU) can be used as such with appropriate signal processing both in medical and industrial applications. Conclusion: Our proof-of-concept device has been used in basic human vital signs detection, such as tremor and respiration. Other tests were performed to verify the suitability of the sensor in demanding industrial applications with high accuracy requirements for rotation and displacement.