Drug overdose (DO) is considered one of the current issues of intravenous (IV) infusion particularly resulting in serious injuries and deaths. Malfunction of infusion pumps is reported as the main cause of the drug overdose. Live monitoring and flow rate calculation by health professionals have been practicing to avoid DO. However, human errors and miscalculations are inevitable. A secondary measurement tool is required to avoid the risk of OD when infusion pump malfunctions cannot be detected immediately. Here, inspired by nature, we developed a real‐time monitoring device through which an administrator can review, evaluate, and modify the IV infusion process. Our flow sensor possesses an erected polymer hair cell on a multi‐layered silicon base forming from a patterned gold strained gauge layer on a piezoresistive liquid crystal polymer (LCP) membrane. Gold strain gauges on an LCP membrane have been used instead of a piezoresistive silicon membrane as the sensing element. The combination of gold strain gauges and LCP membrane provides better sensitivity than a piezoresistive silicon membrane of the same dimensions and thickness. We also miniaturized our biocompatible sensor such that it can be possible to install it inside the IV tube in contact with the liquid providing an in‐suite online flow monitoring. The proposed LCP membrane sensor is compared with two commercially available IV sensors to validate its flow sensing ability. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed sensor provides a low threshold detection limit of 5 mL/hr, which betters the performance of other commercial sensors at low flow rates.

中文翻译：

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用于实时监测静脉输液的微型压阻流量传感器。

药物过量 (DO) 被认为是当前静脉 (IV) 输注的问题之一，尤其会导致严重的伤害和死亡。据报道，输液泵故障是药物过量的主要原因。卫生专业人员的实时监测和流速计算一直在练习以避免 DO。然而，人为错误和误判是不可避免的。当无法立即检测到输液泵故障时，需要使用辅助测量工具来避免 OD 风险。在这里，受大自然的启发，我们开发了一种实时监控设备，管理员可以通过该设备查看、评估和修改 IV 输液过程。我们的流量传感器在由压阻液晶聚合物 (LCP) 膜上的图案化金应变计层形成的多层硅基底上具有竖立的聚合物毛细胞。LCP 膜上的金应变计已被用来代替压阻硅膜作为传感元件。金应变计和 LCP 膜的组合提供比相同尺寸和厚度的压阻硅膜更好的灵敏度。我们还将我们的生物相容性传感器小型化，以便可以将其安装在 IV 管内，与液体接触，提供室内在线流量监测。将提议的 LCP 膜传感器与两个市售的 IV 传感器进行比较，以验证其流量传感能力。