A Composite Flexible Sensor for Direct Ventricular Assist Device

A direct ventricular assist device is one of the effective means to treat patients with heart failure; the key point of the problem is the flexible sensor that can measure the drive pressure and shape variable of the heart auxiliary device. This study was based on the high-voltage electric field guidance process and the porous foaming process, and designed an implantable resistance/capacitive composite flexible sensor that can effectively detect the pressure and deformation signal caused by fine surface contact and pneumatic muscle expansion. Experiments showed the performance of composite sensors with special structure design was greatly improved compared with the control group—the strain measurement sensitivity was 22, pressure measurement sensitivity was up to 0.19 Kpa(−1). Stable strain measurements were made up to 35 times and pressure measurements over 100 times. In addition, we solved the interference problem of resistance/capacitance flexible sensors through an optimized common substrate process. Finally, we tested a pneumatic muscle direct ventricular assist device with a composite flexible sensor on a model heart; the experiment showed that this resistance/capacitive composite flexible sensor can effectively detect surface contact with pneumatic muscle and the displacement signals.