A Novel Adaptive Flexible Capacitive Sensor for Accurate Intravenous Fluid Monitoring in Clinical Settings

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 14; p. 4524
• Main Authors: He, Yang, Yang, Fangfang, Wei, Pengxuan, Lv, Zongmin, Zhang, Yinghong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.07.2025; MDPI
• Subjects: Accuracy; adaptive; Adhesives; Algorithms; calibration-free; Design; Dielectric properties; double pole plate; Electric Capacitance; Electric fields; Electrodes; Embolisms; Equipment Design; flexible capacitive sensing; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Monitoring systems; Monitoring, Physiologic - instrumentation; Monitoring, Physiologic - methods; Sensors; double pole plate; adaptive; flexible capacitive sensing; calibration-free
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s25144524

Intravenous infusion is an important clinical medical intervention, and its safety is critical to patient recovery. To mitigate the elevated risk of complications (e.g., air embolism) arising from delayed response to infusion endpoints, this paper designs a flexible double pole capacitive (FPB) sensor, which includes a main pole plate, an adaptive pole plate, and a back shielding electrode. The sensor establishes a mapping between residual liquid volume in the infusion bottle and its equivalent capacitance, enabling a non-contact adaptive monitoring system. The system enables precise quantification of residual liquid levels, suppressing baseline drift induced by environmental temperature/humidity fluctuations and container variations via an adaptive algorithm, without requiring manual calibration, and overcomes the limitations of traditional rigid sensors when adapting to curved containers. Experimental results showed that the system achieved an overall sensitivity of 753.5 fF/mm, main pole plate linearity of 1.99%, and adaptive pole plate linearity of 0.53% across different test subjects, linearity of 0.53% across different test subjects, with liquid level resolution accuracy reaching 1 mm. These results validate the system’s ultra-high resolution (1 mm) and robust adaptability.