Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01K—MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01K1/00—Details of thermometers not specially adapted for particular types of thermometer
  • G01K1/16—Special arrangements for conducting heat from the object to the sensitive element
  • G01K1/165—Special arrangements for conducting heat from the object to the sensitive element for application in zero heat flux sensors
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/01—Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01K—MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G01K13/00—Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes
  • G01K13/20—Clinical contact thermometers for use with humans or animals
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2562/00—Details of sensors; Constructional details of sensor housings or probes; Accessories for sensors
  • A61B2562/02—Details of sensors specially adapted for in-vivo measurements
  • A61B2562/0271—Thermal or temperature sensors
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2562/00—Details of sensors; Constructional details of sensor housings or probes; Accessories for sensors
  • A61B2562/02—Details of sensors specially adapted for in-vivo measurements
  • A61B2562/0271—Thermal or temperature sensors
  • A61B2562/0276—Thermal or temperature sensors comprising a thermosensitive compound
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2562/00—Details of sensors; Constructional details of sensor housings or probes; Accessories for sensors
  • A61B2562/16—Details of sensor housings or probes; Details of structural supports for sensors
  • A61B2562/164—Details of sensor housings or probes; Details of structural supports for sensors the sensor is mounted in or on a conformable substrate or carrier
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/68—Arrangements of detecting, measuring or recording means, e.g. sensors, in relation to patient
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49002—Electrical device making
  • Y10T29/49117—Conductor or circuit manufacturing
  • Y10T29/49124—On flat or curved insulated base, e.g., printed circuit, etc.
  • Y10T29/4913—Assembling to base an electrical component, e.g., capacitor, etc.
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/24—Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24273—Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.] including aperture
  • Y10T428/24298—Noncircular aperture [e.g., slit, diamond, rectangular, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24314—Slit or elongated

Definitions

• a substrate layer adapted to carry sensors, actuators or electrical components
• the present invention substrate layer structure adapted to carry sensors, actuators or electronic components and adapted to be attached to a surface of a human or animal body or biological species.
• body temperature sensors which can either be based on invasive body temperature sensors (arterial line catheters, esophageal / rectal probes, etc.) or non-invasive sensors which are attached to the surface of the subject being monitored.
• PCB printed circuit board
• flex-foil e.g. polyimide film
• the object of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a flexible & stretchable substrate layer that is suitable to carry various electronic devices and thus forming flexible & stretchable medical device/sensor assembly, while at the same time making use of the proven industry- standard substrate materials and manufacturing processes.
• the present invention relates to substrate layer structure adapted to carry sensors, actuators or electronic components, or a combination thereof, and adapted to be attached to a surface of a human or animal body or biological species, wherein the surface of the flexible substrate layer structure is patterned structure of pre-f ⁇ xed geometry formed by one or more slits, the geometry being selected such that the stretchability of the substrate layer structure becomes adapted to the geometry of the body surface under it.
• the geometry formed by the one or more slits can therefore be adapted to the usage condition of the substrate layer structure.
• the geometry may be made of multiple of parallel slits, if the geometry required is two dimensional in the plane of the layer structure, the geometry may be a formed by parallel S-shaped slits, and if the implementation requires that the stretchability is three dimensional a single slit that forms a spiral may be used. Accordingly, a highly advanced "stretchable electronic" circuit/sensor is provided.
• the substrate layer structure is made of an industry- standard printed circuit (PCB) board material.
• PCB material is polyimide film, FR-2 (Phenolic cotton paper), FR-3 (Cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), FR-5 (Woven glass and epoxy), FR-6 (Matte glass and polyester), G-IO (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-I (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-2 (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-3 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (Woven glass and polyester), teflon, ceramic material.
• the one or more slits and thus the patterned structure of pre-f ⁇ xed geometry is formed by cutting the slits into the surface of the substrate layer structure.
• the desired level of stretchability and flexibility is achieved by forming slits in the substrate, for example, a spiral- shaped slit can be used to let the substrate stretch in the out-of-plane direction, e.g. in order to fit onto an elliptical or a conical object.
• the so-called 'nested' slits can be exploited as to split the substrate layer structure into a number of sub-planes that allows e.g. pulling one of the spirals to the top while pulling the other spiral to the bottom. An object can be then placed in between the spirals.
• a finger or an arm can be placed in between the spirals if the sensing principle requires the electronic components to be beneficially placed from both sides of the object being measured (e.g. a finger or an arm).
• 'nested' slits like 'dual-spiral' can be used for creating 'sandwich-like' multi-plane substrates wherein different planes are separated from each other by a certain material.
• a well- defined thermally insulating layer can be included in between the 'sandwich planes' in order to allow thermal flux measurement on the out-of-plane direction.
• the flexibility of the overall system is maintained if the insulation layer is chosen to be flexible and stretchable as well. It should be noted that the same 'sandwich' could be also achieved by using a number of separate substrates.
• the substrate layer structure is a sandwiched like structure formed by two or more of the PCB patterned structures.
• a multilayer structures are obtained, which is often required for medical sensors such as temperature sensor, e.g. a temperature sensor so-called zero flux type that consist of two or more temperature sensitive elements separated by a single layer (or more) of thermal insulation.
• the each of the PCB patterned structures may be fit into another device.
• the multilayer structures may be separated by an insulating material, e.g. in case the substrate layer structure is adapted to be used as a temperature sensor, or by non-insulating (or semi- conducting) material.
• the patterned structure of pre-fixed geometry is formed by: one or more substantially parallel straight lined slits, or one or more substantially parallel S-shaped slits, or - a spiral shaped slit, or a dual spiral shaped slit, or a multi-spiral shaped slit, or a slit forming a cam-like structure, or a combination of two or more spiral shaped slits, - a combination of a at least one S-shaped slit and at least one slit forming cam- like structure, a combination of two or more of the above.
• the orientation of the stretchability may be fully controlled by varying the geometry of the slit(s).
• parallel slits as an example provide increased stretchability in one direction;
• S-shaped slits provide stretchability in two dimensions as well as the spiral shaped slit etc.
• the electronic device is electrical components, or circuitry, or both.
• the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a substrate layer structure as claimed in claim 1, comprising: providing said substrate layer structure, forming said one or more slits of pre-fixed geometry into the surface of the substrate layer structure, and placing or attaching said sensors, actuators, electronic components, or a combination thereof to the substrate layer structure.
• the cut/slits may be performed right before or after placing the said electronic device or components, or electro-mechanical, or electro-chemical sensors.
• Making the slits as such is a standard and well known procedure as 'carving out' of the individual devices from the common substrate sheet (typical device size is in the order of a few cm, while the substrates are normally some 30cm by 60cm in size - depending on the manufacturing equipment and manufacturer preferences).
• the present invention relates to a sensor assembly comprising said substrate layer structure and electronic device or components, or electro-mechanical, or electro-chemical sensors, or a combination thereof attached or integrated into the substrate layer structure.
• Figure 8 shows one example of a temperature sensor assembly benef ⁇ tting from using such substrates layer structure.
• PCBs printed circuit boards
• flex- foils flexible foils used as substrate
• Such conducting layers are typically made of thin copper foil.
• prepregs short for preimpregnated
• Copper foil and prepreg are typically laminated together with epoxy resin.
• FR-2 Phenolic cotton paper
• FR-3 Cotton paper and epoxy
• FR-4 Wood glass and epoxy
• FR-5 Wood glass and epoxy
• FR-6 Melt glass and polyester
• G-IO Wiven glass and epoxy
• CEM-I Cotton paper and epoxy
• CEM-2 Cotton paper and epoxy
• CEM-3 Wood glass and epoxy
• CEM-4 Wiven glass and epoxy
• CEM-5 Wood glass and polyester
• Other widely used materials are polyimide, teflon and some ceramics.
• the sensors need to be placed either on an ellipsoid-like object or in an ellipsoid-like depression. Therefore, it is not sufficient for the sensors to be able to bend in one direction; they also need to be stretchable.
• PCB substrates are rigid (i.e. neither stretchable nor flexible), and flex- foil substrates are flexible but not stretchable. That makes them ill-suited for the considered class of body- worn anatomically conformal sensors.
• Figures 1-7 show seven different embodiment of substrates layer structure adapted to carry electronic device and adapted to be attached to a surface of a human or animal body or biological species.
• the surface of the flexible substrate layer structures comprises a patterned structure of pre-fixed geometry, which may be formed by one or more slits, or by cutting out a pre-fixed geometry forming thus a so-called pre-fixed "nested" geometry (e.g. a spiral), where the geometry is selected such that the stretchability of the substrate layer structure becomes adapted to the geometry of the body surface under it.
• the slits may be produced by well known methods such as simply by cutting into the substrate layer, or via standard etching methods, or by any other means that are available to the person skilled in the art. Further, the stretchability by be further controlled by varying the depth of the slits, but the depth typically extends only partially into the substrate layers, but the depth may just as well extend throughout the substrates layer, depending on the applications.
• Figure 1 shows a substrate layer structure 100 where the patterned structure consists of substantially straight lines which provides an improved flexibility in x-direction (see the coordinate system).
• the slits are formed by etching/cutting the slits into the substrate layer structure which may be a rigid printed circuit board (PCB), or a flexible foil, or a deformable material.
• the electronic device or devices e.g. temperature sensitive element
• the electronic device or devices may then be attached, soldered, mounted, to the patterned structure, e.g. at the slits 101, or at the layer structure 100.
• temperature-sensitive elements e.g. thermistors
• Such a sensor can be useful for measuring a multitude of temperatures e.g. on a finger or an arm near or at a joint.
• Figure 2 shows a substrate layer structure 100 where the patterned structure consists of substantially parallel S-shaped slits.
• the electronic device or devices may be attached to the patterned structure, e.g. at the S-shaped slits 201, or at the layer structure 100.
• Figure 3 shows a substrate layer structure 100 where the patterned structure consists of a single slit 301 having spiral shape.
• a spiral cut causes high flexibility in both x-y-directions, especially the inner tip of the spiral.
• a spiral shaped structure provides significant stretchability in the z-direction (out-of-plane direction), e.g. in order to fit onto an elliptical or a conical object.
• Figure 4 shows a dual-spiral or "nested" slits 401 that are placed onto the substrate layer structure 100 and thus form a top layer 401.
• the use of such dual-spiral slit allows as an example an easy implementation of two layer sensor structures that are extremely flexible and self-aligned.
• Such a structure can be very useful in creating multilayer structures, e.g. so-called zero heat flux type (or related) sensors (see Fig. 8) that consist of two or more temperature sensitive elements (thermistors, thermocouples, etc.) separated by a layer of thermal insulation, where the core body temperature is estimated by combining the multiplicity of the temperature readings.
• the difference between the temperatures on the opposite sides of the insulation layer (that is proportional to the heat flux from the measured body and the ambient) is being used in the estimation.
• the heat flux from the body to the ambient can be optionally modulated by the use of heating elements, evaporators, layers of variable effective thermal conductance and alike in order to increase the estimation accuracy.
• the use of "nested" slits allows low- cost manufacturing of multi-layer structures from a single substrate sheet and additionally simplifies the problem of aligning the different layers.
• Figures 5-7 show three embodiments of slits forming cam- likes structures.
• the structures 501 and 502 have different depth into the substrate layer structure 100 and thus allow two-layer sensor structures that are flexible and stretchable in x-y-directions, i.e. the electronic device(s) can be placed into each respective structure 501, 502.
• Figure 6 shows a "nested" cam-like structure where the structures are put on that top of the substrate layer structure 100.
• Figure 6 shows a combination of cam-like and S- shape slits 701, 702 such that additional flexibility and stretchability is achieved.
• 'nested' is simply meant that it allows creating a multiplicity of 'sub-planes'.
• Figure 8 shows one example of a flexible and stretchable sensor assembly that forms a temperature sensor.
• the substrate layer 100 is a "nested" spiral having attached thereto a number of temperature sensors (thermistors) 802.
• the other part of the spiral also contains thermistors 804 that is located between the insulation layer 801a and 801b (the dark separator between top 801b and bottom 801a). Both parts of the spiral are connected to few pieces of driving electronics 803.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Molecular Biology (AREA)
• Surgery (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Medical Informatics (AREA)
• Biophysics (AREA)
• Pathology (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Measuring And Recording Apparatus For Diagnosis (AREA)
• Structure Of Printed Boards (AREA)
• Testing Or Calibration Of Command Recording Devices (AREA)
• Measuring Pulse, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure Or Blood Flow (AREA)

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• 2009
  • 2009-05-18 EP EP09750237.1A patent/EP2280638B1/en active Active
  • 2009-05-18 US US12/992,321 patent/US9587991B2/en active Active
  • 2009-05-18 CN CN200980118549.8A patent/CN102036600B/zh active Active
  • 2009-05-18 WO PCT/IB2009/052044 patent/WO2009141780A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2009-05-18 RU RU2010152667/14A patent/RU2506890C2/ru active
  • 2009-05-18 BR BRPI0908620A patent/BRPI0908620A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
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• 2014
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