A Pressure Microsensor Made of Parylene‐C for Use as Medical Implant

ABSTRACT Continuous and long‐term pressure monitoring by devices implanted in the human body promises substantial improvements for diagnosis, health monitoring, surveillance of disease progression, or surveillance of the response to a treatment but also for precision during surgeries. Here, we report on a piezoresistive sensor made entirely of parylene‐C eliminating the need for heterogeneous encapsulation. Material characterization demonstrated that parylene‐C is excellently suited as a construction material. The pressure sensor comprises a parylene‐C membrane, which is functionalized with gold strain sensors for pressure sensitivity. It was bonded to the reference pressure cavity, thereby establishing a long‐time stable hermetic sealing. The presented design and fabrication enable for the first time a monolithic, highly soft and flexible pressure sensor entirely made of biocompatible material. It exhibited high pressure sensitivity of up to 6.2 µV·mmHg ⁻¹ with very good repeatability and negligible hysteresis, made possible by thin‐film strain sensors on a parylene‐C membrane with a gauge factor of 7.5. Simulations show how the design can be easily even further miniaturized. Initial in vitro assay confirmed that parylene‐C is biocompatible on cell culture level. Such biocompatible and chronically implantable pressure sensors are opening new possibilities in medical treatments and long‐term supervision.