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Romano et al. Soft Sci 2024;4:31 Soft Science
DOI: 10.20517/ss.2024.24

Research Article Open Access

Tunable soft pressure sensors based on magnetic

coupling mediated by hyperelastic materials

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Chiara Romano 1 , Daniela Lo Presti , Sergio Silvestri , Emiliano Schena , Carlo Massaroni 1,2,*
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Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome 00128, Italy.
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Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Rome 00128, Italy.
* Correspondence to: Dr. Carlo Massaroni, Department of Engineering, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro
del Portillo, Rome 00128, Italy. E-mail: c.massaroni@unicampus.it
How to cite this article: Romano C, Presti DL, Silvestri S, Schena E, Massaroni C. Tunable soft pressure sensors based on
magnetic coupling mediated by hyperelastic materials. Soft Sci 2024;4:31. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ss.2024.24

Received: 22 Jun 2024 First Decision: 23 Jul 2024 Revised: 13 Aug 2024 Accepted: 31 Aug 2024 Published: 9 Sep 2024

Academic Editor: YongAn Huang Copy Editor: Dong-Li Li Production Editor: Dong-Li Li

Abstract
Recent advances in pressure sensors have garnered significant interest due to their promising applications in
healthcare, robotics and wearable technology. In these fields, there is an ever-increasing demand for soft sensors
that can conform to complex surfaces, such as the human body. However, current sensors often face limitations in
measurable pressure ranges and customization involves complex manufacturing processes. In this study, we
introduce an innovative solution for producing soft pressure sensors with varying maximum detection pressures. By
utilizing a magnetic transduction mechanism and different hyperelastic materials, we have developed sensors that
can adapt to irregular surfaces. These sensors measure a wide range of pressures, from ultra-low to medium, and
offer variable stiffness, sensitivity, and measurement ranges. The sensors we manufactured exhibit a detection
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range from 6.8 to 77.4 kPa, a sensitivity range between -5.1 × 10 and -0.4 × 10 kPa , a short recovery time of
0.4 s, low hysteresis values during repeated loading/unloading cycles, and stable response over thousands of
pressure cycle. Proof-of-concept experiments validated the sensors’ suitability for breathing monitoring and finger
tap detection, highlighting their potential in medical and robotic applications. The results demonstrate a robust
strategy for controlling the performance of soft pressure sensors, positioning them as promising candidates for
diverse pressure sensing applications.

Keywords: Soft sensors, pressure sensing, wearable sensors, breathing monitoring

© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
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