The use of flexible micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based devices provides a unique opportunity in bio-medical robotics such as the characterization of normal and malignant tissues. This paper reports on the design and development of a flexible MEMS-based sensor array integrating mechanical and electrical sensors on the same platform to enable the study of the change in electro-mechanical properties of benign and cancerous breast tissues. In this work, we present the analysis of the electrical characterization of the tissue specimens and also demonstrate the feasibility of using the sensor for the mechanical characterization of tissue specimens. Eight strain gauges acting as mechanical sensors were fabricated using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) conducting polymer on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as the substrate material. Eight electrical sensors were fabricated using SU-8 pillars on gold (Au) pads which were patterned on the strain gauges separated by a thin insulator (SiO2 1.0??m). These pillars were coated with gold to make them conducting. The electro-mechanical sensors are integrated on the same substrate. The sensor array covers a 180??m?????180??m area and the size of the complete device is 20?mm in diameter. The diameter of each breast tissue core used in the present study was 1?mm and the thickness was 8??m. The region of interest was 200??m?????200??m. A microindentation technique was used to characterize the mechanical properties of the breast tissues. The sensor is integrated with conducting SU-8 pillars to study the electrical property of the tissue. Through electro-mechanical characterization studies using this MEMS-based sensor, we were able to measure the accuracy of the fabricated device and ascertain the difference between benign and cancers breast tissue specimens.

中文翻译：

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用于乳腺癌诊断的基于 MEMS 的柔性机电传感器阵列的设计和制造

基于柔性微机电系统 (MEMS) 的设备的使用为生物医学机器人提供了独特的机会，例如正常和恶性组织的表征。本文报告了基于 MEMS 的灵活传感器阵列的设计和开发，该阵列在同一平台上集成了机械和电传感器，以研究良性和癌性乳腺组织的机电特性变化。在这项工作中，我们介绍了组织标本的电学表征分析，并证明了使用传感器进行组织标本机械表征的可行性。使用聚（3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩）聚（苯乙烯磺酸盐）（PEDOT：PSS）以聚（二甲基硅氧烷）（PDMS）为基材的导电聚合物。八个电传感器是使用金 (Au) 垫上的 SU-8 柱制造的，这些柱在应变计上形成图案，由薄绝缘体 (SiO2 1.0??m) 隔开。这些柱子涂有金，使它们导电。机电传感器集成在同一基板上。传感器阵列覆盖了 180??m????180??m 的区域，整个设备的尺寸为直径 20?mm。本研究中使用的每个乳房组织核心的直径为 1?mm，厚度为 8??m。感兴趣的区域是 200??m????200??m。使用显微压痕技术来表征乳房组织的机械特性。该传感器与导电 SU-8 支柱集成，以研究组织的电特性。