The present paper describes the design and evaluation results of a sensor for measuring body pressure and sweat volume using conductive fibers. Pressure ulcers that develop from staying in the same posture for a long time are a serious problem in nursing care. The main causes of pressure ulcers are blockage of capillaries due to body pressure and skin structure degeneration due to sweat. To quantify the causes of pressure ulcers, Mengeng Liu et al. have developed a sensitive (14.4 kPa⁻¹) pressure sensor using conductive fibers with excellent cleaning and flexibility. However, a conductive fiber sensor that focuses on both body pressure and sweating has not yet been established. Therefore, in the present research, we made a sensor that can measure body pressure and sweat volume with only fibers and evaluated the performance of the proposed method. The fabricated sensor is a parallel plate capacitive sensor made of two conductive fibers that sandwich an insulating cloth. When body pressure is applied, the distance between two parallel conductive fibers increases, and when sweat is applied, the dielectric constant of the fabric changes, increasing the capacitance of the sensor. Capacitance change can be evaluated by peak holding the output of the AC bridge circuit. Through an evaluation experiment using a vise and a constant temperature and constant‐humidity chamber, the fabricated sensor was confirmed to be able to measure a pressure change of 10 mmHg and a humidity change of 10%. This sensor, which can evaluate pressure and humidity (amount of adhering water) at the same time and at low cost, contributes to reducing the burden of nursing care. © 2020 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

中文翻译：

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开发具有导电性织物的可检测褥疮的传感器

本文介绍了使用导电纤维测量人体压力和汗液量的传感器的设计和评估结果。长时间保持相同姿势导致的压疮在护理中是一个严重的问题。压力性溃疡的主要原因是由于体压引起的毛细血管阻塞和由于汗液引起的皮肤结构退化。为了量化压疮的原因，Mengeng Liu等人。已开发出敏感的（14.4 kPa ^-1）使用导电纤维的压力传感器，具有出色的清洁性和柔韧性。然而，尚未建立同时关注体压和出汗的导电纤维传感器。因此，在本研究中，我们制造了一种仅使用纤维即可测量人体压力和汗液量的传感器，并评估了该方法的性能。制成的传感器是一块平行板电容式传感器，由两条绝缘纤维夹在中间的导电纤维制成。当施加身体压力时，两条平行导电纤维之间的距离增加，而施加汗液时，织物的介电常数发生变化，从而增加了传感器的电容。可以通过峰值保持交流电桥电路的输出来评估电容变化。通过使用虎钳和恒温恒湿室进行的评估实验，证实了所制造的传感器能​​够测量10 mmHg的压力变化和10％的湿度变化。该传感器可以同时且低成本地评估压力和湿度（附着的水量），有助于减轻护理负担。©2020日本电气工程师学会。由John Wiley＆Sons，Inc.发布