17.3.

2 Biomedical Sensors
Miniaturization and low power consumption are very important forbiomedical
and, in particular, implantable sensors. Microsensor technol-ogy is therefore very
well suited for this type of application. Implantablemicrosystems or
micromodules are indeed being developed for invasivemonitoring of patients as
well as for delivering electrical and chemicalstimuli to the body. [1823]The
specifications for implantable systems are very stringent. Low-voltage and low-
power operation is imperative to ensure sufficiently longbattery duration. The
highest degrees of reliability and stability arerequired since substitution of a failed
device requires surgical interventionand, in the worst case, a failure could be
fatal. Packaging is crucial to pro-tect the system from aggressive body fluids (such
as blood) and viceversa. Finally, communication between the implanted system
and theexternal world is limited, since only very few direct contacts are
allowed.Pacemakers are an important application of implantable
microsensorsystems. These devices are used to treat cardiac arrythmias such as
brady-cardia (slow heart rate) and tachycardia (rapid heart rate) by assisting
theheart's natural pacemaking function with voltage pulses (5 to 10 V). Com-
munication with the external world is provided by an inductive telemetrysystem
operated at low frequencies or a transceiver, including an antenna,operated at
radio frequencies. In some cases, the telemetry system alsoprovides the power
supply.[2122]
17.3.3 Sensors for Household Appliances, BuildingControl, and Industrial Control
Electronic components, including sensors, are becoming more numer-ous and
complex in modern white goods. Control systems for washingmachines, ovens, air
conditioning systems, alarm systems, vacuum clean-ers, industrial process
control, and so forth all require sensing elements.Sensor specifications in the
industrial, household, and automotive marketsare somewhat similar because of
the large number of parts per year involvedand the comparable environmental
conditions (Table 17.3). In many cases,however, sensors for the household market
must be particularly cheap,because the added value of the whole set of
equipment is relatively low.Recently, a number of microsensor systems for white
goods have beenproposed^24'261 including flow sensors (for vacuum cleaners
and air condi-tioning systems), temperature sensors (for ovens, washing
machines, andair conditioning systems), magnetic sensors (for contactle