Flexible Medical Sensor Traces Across Modulus Transitions
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical appliances, such as ostomy and wound dressings, face challenges in accommodating sensors that are stretchable and flexible to attach to the skin surface while resisting rupture due to bending or stretching, particularly with conductive traces that are prone to breakage at material transitions with differing Young's moduli.
Innovation Solution
The medical appliance incorporates a design with distinct areas of varying Young's moduli, featuring conductive traces that transition smoothly across these areas, ensuring resistance to rupture and maintaining electrical integrity under stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conductive traces are made stretchable and flexible to attach to skin surface, then adaptability to skin surface is improved, but resistance to rupture deteriorates due to bending or stretching
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive trace is divided into multiple segments or zones with different Young's moduli along its length. The first area has a first Young's modulus and the second area has a second Young's modulus that is greater than the first, creating distinct mechanical zones that can handle different stress conditions while maintaining overall flexibility and electrical continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the conductive trace are assigned different mechanical properties (Young's moduli) based on their functional requirements. The transition area between the first and second areas has intermediate properties that bridge the mechanical characteristics, allowing the trace to be flexible where needed while providing strength where required to resist rupture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conductive traces transition across areas with differing Young's moduli, then adaptability to different mechanical conditions is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to breakage at material transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The Young's modulus parameter is gradually changed from the first value in the first area to the second value in the second area through a transition area. This gradual parameter change prevents abrupt mechanical property shifts that would cause stress concentration and breakage, while still allowing the conductive trace to adapt to different mechanical conditions across its length.
Solution Approach 2:
The conductive trace is constructed as a composite structure with different material compositions or configurations in different areas. The first area, transition area, and second area use different material properties to create a composite conductive trace that combines flexibility and strength, preventing breakage at transitions while maintaining adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical appliance (100) being substantially planar and extending in an appliance plane. The medical appliance comprises a first area (111) and a second area (112) in the appliance plane, the medical appliance having a first Young's modulus in the first area and a second Young's modulus in the second area being greater than the first Young's modulus. The medical appliance comprises one or more conductive traces (121) extending in the appliance plane from within the first area to within the second area. The conductive trace has a first part (121a) within the first area and a second part (121b) within the second area, and the conductive trace has an intermediate part (121c) between the first part and the second part. The electrical resistance of the primary intermediate part (R3) is lower than the electrical resistance of the primary first part (R1) and lower than the electrical resistance of the primary second part (R2).