A Novel Packaging of the MEMS Gas Sensors Used for Harsh Outdoor and Human Exhale Sampling Applications.

Dust or condensed water present in harsh outdoor or high-humidity human breath samples are one of the key sources that cause false detection in Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) gas sensors. This paper proposes a novel packaging mechanism for MEMS gas sensors that utilizes a self-anchoring mechanism to embed a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter into the upper cover of the gas sensor packaging. This approach is distinct from the current method of external pasting. The proposed packaging mechanism is successfully demonstrated in this study. The test results indicate that the innovative packaging with the PTFE filter reduced the average response value of the sensor to the humidity range of 75~95% RH by 60.6% compared to the packaging without the PTFE filter. Additionally, the packaging passed the High-Accelerated Temperature and Humidity Stress (HAST) reliability test. With a similar sensing mechanism, the proposed packaging embedded with a PTFE filter can be further employed for the application of exhalation-related, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), breath screening.

Application of implantable wireless biomicrosystem for monitoring nerve impedance of rat after sciatic nerve injury.

Electrical stimulation is usually applied percutaneously for facilitating peripheral nerve regeneration. However, few studies have conducted long-term monitoring of the condition of nerve regeneration. This study implements an implantable biomicrosystem for inducing pulse current for aiding nerve repair and monitoring the time-course changes of nerve impedance for assessing nerve regeneration in sciatic nerve injury rat model. For long-term implantation, a transcutaneous magnetic coupling technique is adopted for power and data transmission. For in vivo study, the implanted module was placed in the rat's abdomen and the cuff electrode was wrapped around an 8-mm sciatic nerve gap of the rat for nerve impedance measurement for 42 days. One group of animals received monophasic constant current via the cuff electrode and a second group had no stimulation between days 8-21. The nerve impedance increased to above 150% of the initial value in the nerve regeneration groups with and without stimulation whereas the group with no nerve regeneration increased to only 113% at day 42. The impedance increase in nerve regeneration groups can be observed before evident functional recovery. Also, the nerve regeneration group that received electrical stimulation had relatively higher myelinated fiber density than that of no stimulation group, 20686 versus 11417 fiber/mm (2). The developed implantable biomicrosystem is proven to be a useful experimental tool for long-term stimulation in aiding nerve fiber growth as well as impedance assessment for understanding the time-course changes of nerve regeneration.

Fabrication and Performance of MEMS-Based Pressure Sensor Packages Using Patterned Ultra-Thick Photoresists.

A novel plastic packaging of a piezoresistive pressure sensor using a patterned ultra-thick photoresist is experimentally and theoretically investigated. Two pressure sensor packages of the sacrifice-replacement and dam-ring type were used in this study. The characteristics of the packaged pressure sensors were investigated by using a finite-element (FE) model and experimental measurements. The results show that the thermal signal drift of the packaged pressure sensor with a small sensing-channel opening or with a thin silicon membrane for the dam-ring approach had a high packaging induced thermal stress, leading to a high temperature coefficient of span (TCO) response of -0.19% span/°C. The results also show that the thermal signal drift of the packaged pressure sensors with a large sensing-channel opening for sacrifice-replacement approach significantly reduced packaging induced thermal stress, and hence a low TCO response of -0.065% span/°C. However, the packaged pressure sensors of both the sacrifice-replacement and dam-ring type still met the specification -0.2% span/°C of the unpackaged pressure sensor. In addition, the size of proposed packages was 4 × 4 × 1.5 mm(3) which was about seven times less than the commercialized packages. With the same packaging requirement, the proposed packaging approaches may provide an adequate solution for use in other open-cavity sensors, such as gas sensors, image sensors, and humidity sensors.