PCBs for Flexible Pressure Sensors
PCBs have enabled a huge number of new products, from the earliest alarm radios and video games to personal computers and cordless phones. As these devices have become more compact, lighter and more durable, they have had to accommodate a growing number of sensors. These sensors help to connect and communicate with the analog world of physical phenomena, such as temperature, pressure, magnetic fields, electrical currents and more. Using the right sensors for the job can help to make your product more reliable, more accurate, more powerful and easier to use.
But, with so many different sensors available, which ones do you choose? This isn’t just about considering the phenomena you want to measure; you also need to think about how your product will be used and what the environment is like. This is because the sensor you select will influence how it interacts with the device, and this may affect how sensitive it is.
The answer to this question is pcb board. FPCs are made of soft layered materials that can be flexed and bent, unlike rigid PCBs, which are set in their shape for the rest of their lives. They are also less expensive to produce than rigid PCBs.
Flexible PCBs for Flexible Pressure Sensors
PCBs can be fabricated with a variety of finishes and layers, depending on their intended use and the materials in which they are to be used. Various plating methods are used, from the relatively low cost HASL and ENIG to the more durable nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG). ENEPIG is corrosion resistant and far more durable than either HASL or ENIG, but it’s also significantly more expensive.
Rigid and flex circuit boards can be designed to accommodate a wide range of sensors. For example, in remote patient monitoring devices that need to be portable and lightweight, a flex PCB can host a wireless blood glucose monitor, a wearable ECG sensor or a microfluidic flow sensor for measuring biological parameters. They can even be a vital component in endoscopic and minimally invasive surgery devices, such as catheters, which need to bend and flex around body tissues.
As we move into an era of “smart” everything, it’s important to think about how our electronic devices will be used, what the environments they are in will be like and what their lifespan will be. This requires a new approach to the design of electronics, and it calls for new ways to create sensing platforms that are more versatile and affordable than those currently in existence.
A key to this approach is the development of flexible, rugged and highly portable electronic circuit boards that are capable of detecting a broad spectrum of biochemical parameters. These new sensors can be based on different electroanalytical and bioanalytical approaches. They can also take advantage of advances in flexible and flex PCB technology that enable these devices to navigate unique design challenges that traditional rigid and flex circuit boards struggle with. This includes the use of flex PCBs to house microfluidic sensor components that are embedded in flexible substrates such as DuPont Kapton.
