A device comprising an array of sensors and a multiplicity of
bus lines, each sensor being electrically connected to a respective
bus line and comprising a respective multiplicity of groups of micromachined sensor cells, the sensor
cell groups of a particular sensor being electrically coupled to each other via the
bus line to which that sensor is connected, each sensor
cell group comprising a respective multiplicity of micromachined sensor cells that are electrically interconnected to each other and not switchably disconnectable from each other, the device further comprising means for isolating any one of the sensor
cell groups from its associated bus line and in response to any one of the micromachined sensor cells of that sensor cell group being short-circuited to ground. In one implementation, the isolating means comprise a multiplicity of fuses. In another implementation, the isolating means comprise a multiplicity of
short circuit protection modules, each module comprising a
current sensor circuit and an
electrical isolation switch.