As wearable health monitoring advances, the demand for flexible pressure sensors that combine high sensitivity, full-range linearity, and medical-grade accuracy continues to grow. Now, researchers from the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, led by Prof. Chao Zhang and Prof. Jun Yang, have developed a bioinspired dual-mechanism iontronic pressure sensor (FIPS) that mimics human skin structure—achieving record-breaking linearity and sensitivity for real-time musculoskeletal load monitoring.
Why This Sensor Matters
- Ultra-Linear Response: Maintains R2> 0.997 across 0–1 MPa, overcoming the typical trade-off between sensitivity and linearity in flexible sensors.
- Medical-Grade Accuracy: Achieves 1.8% error in ground reaction force (GRF) estimation—far superior to nonlinear sensors (6.5% error).
- Scalable & Stable: Demonstrates excellent reproducibility, long-term stability, and scalability for smart insole integration.
Innovative Design and Features
- Dual-Mechanism Sensing: Combines contact area expansion (∝P1/3) and ion concentration modulation (∝P2/3) to produce a linear capacitance-pressure response (C ∝P).
- Skin-Inspired Structure: Uses woven iontronic fabric embedded in a polyurethane matrix, mimicking the dermal collagen-elastic fiber network for wide-range mechanical adaptability.
- High LSF: Achieves a linear sensing factor (LSF) of 242,000—the highest reported to date for flexible pressure sensors.
Applications and Performance
- Smart Insole Integration: Enables real-time tibial load monitoring during walking and running on various terrains (concrete, track, lawn).
- Gait Analysis: Accurately classifies walking speeds with ~100% accuracy and predicts tibial stress with high precision.
- Durability: Withstands >10,000 loading cycles and maintains stable performance under bending, humidity, and temperature variation.
Conclusion and Outlook
This work introduces a universal design paradigm for high-performance linear flexible sensors, bridging the gap between biological inspiration and engineering precision. The FIPS platform opens new avenues for wearable biomechanics, sports medicine, and rehabilitation robotics, offering a transformative tool for early fracture-risk prediction and personalized musculoskeletal health monitoring.
Stay tuned for more innovations from Prof. Chao Zhang and Prof. Jun Yang’s team at the Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology!