New materials enable higher-performance sensor systems

The performance of medical sensors is increasingly shaped by advances in materials, surface engineering, and manufacturing technologies. Progress in these areas is creating new opportunities to make sensors more sensitive, robust, and sustainable. This creates important prerequisites for integrating diagnostics and monitoring more reliably into clinical and point-of-care applications in the future.

One area of innovation focuses on higher-performance thermoelectric materials for infrared sensor arrays. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (Fraunhofer IPMS), together with Heimann Sensor and the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden), are developing a CMOS-compatible MEMS technology designed to achieve significantly higher temperature resolution. The goal is to develop sensors with a temperature resolution below 20 millikelvin and pixel sizes of less than 45 micrometers.

The improved sensitivity could support applications in medical thermography, including the detection of externally visible inflammation and the support of early cancer detection. At the same time, the manufacturing processes being developed provide the foundation for the future integration of these new materials into industrial production lines.

In addition to sensitivity, the long-term stability of sensors is also turning into an important focus. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) have developed a sensor surface for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) that enables the sensitive detection of pharmaceutical compounds in blood plasma while offering significantly greater stability than comparable silver-based surfaces.

Using a new chemical approach, the highly branched silver structures remain functional for at least seven months under standard storage conditions. This development addresses a key requirement for future use in clinical workflows. Looking ahead, the technology could be combined with portable Raman systems and integrated into point-of-care workflows to support on-site monitoring of drug concentrations in blood plasma.

Another area of development combines sensor performance with sustainable material concepts. An international research team led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has developed printed magnetic field sensors made from iron, iron oxide, and bio-based materials such as cellulose and starch. The sensors eliminate the need for potentially problematic materials such as nickel or cobalt and are manufactured using industrial printing processes that conserve resources.

The technology is particularly suited to applications in which sensors are required only for a limited period of time. These include disposable medical products, where controlled biodegradable or recyclable material concepts could create new opportunities in the future.

These three developments demonstrate that innovation in medical technology begins at the material and component level. New materials, optimized surfaces, and advanced manufacturing technologies are laying the foundation for upgraded diverse solutions for sensor systems. For medical device manufacturers, these technologies create new opportunities to develop sensor systems for diagnostics and monitoring that are more reliable, scalable, and better suited for practical clinical use.

Sources: Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf