Piezoelectric smart material for breathing rate sensor

http://MaterialsViews.com
A test subject demonstrates a new kind of all-organic pressure sensor designed by European scientists. They believe it represents a new type of "intelligent" material, using piezoelectic properties to respond to changes in pressure, resulting in changes in conductivity. In the video, small breathing movements are translated by the sensor into easily measurable electric currents; ultimately, the same technology could be used for smart textiles, as part of a system designed to monitor fatigue in air- or spacecraft, or in advanced biomedicine.
Read the full story at http://www.materialsviews.com/details/news/685671/Thin_Film_Organic_Sensors_F... .

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• piezoelectric
• material
• materials
• thin films
• smart materials
• sensors
• intelligent materials

[MaterialsViews]

I think you would need to keep pretty still - the big advantage of this material is that it's very sensitive to slight changes in its size, and so any muscle movement related to standing up or walking around would probably give too much noise in the signal.

This is still very much a prototype, though (which answers your question, OaklandMann - apologies that we missed it before!) to prove the concept of the material, and so in the future I can see more robust, practical devices appearing.

[OaklandMann]

I'm working on a design project where this would be useful. What kind of sensor is this? Where can I buy it?