moisture sensor for wound dressing on a bandage

Using Arduino Sensors
#1

good evening roomies,

please i need assistance pertaining to moisture sensor or possibly if there is any other sensing transducer i can use with my arduino board to detect the level of wwetness of a bandage on a wound, i will prefer a sensor that doesnt have contact with the wound.i want a sensor that can sense through the bandage.
can"t wait for ur responses.
thank you

#2

Could you draw a picture of it ? I'm not sure that I understand it. The sensor has to be somewhere inside the bandage, does it ?
What if you don't measure it, but keep it dry ? This video explains diapers from an engineering point of view : The Engineering of a Disposable Diaper - YouTube

#3

Thanks. The idea is this: there burnt patient with the entire body with burns. And the challenges are how do we know the exact time to change the wound dressing in order to prevent wastage of material when we later find out it has not due for change. Also the pains undergone by the patient and the rest. So we want a device that can monitor the wetness of the bandage.

Thank you

#4

Most sensors use a small current, which would be bad with open wounds, other sensors are too big. I think it is not measuring humidity of air, but more like the humidity in soil.
This might be too big : SHT-10 Mesh-protected Weather-proof Temperature/Humidity Sensor : ID 1298 : $49.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits
This uses capacitive sensing, so there is no electricity in contact with the moisture : http://wemakethings.net/chirp/
I think capacitive sensing is the best, but I don't know how safe it is with open wounds. Perhaps a smaller version than the chirp and with an extra layer of insulation for safety.

#5

Just curious, you want to change the bandage when it becomes too dry or too wet?

#6

gymbryan:
good evening roomies,

please i need assistance pertaining to moisture sensor or possibly if there is any other sensing transducer i can use with my arduino board to detect the level of wwetness of a bandage on a wound, i will prefer a sensor that doesnt have contact with the wound.i want a sensor that can sense through the bandage.
can"t wait for ur responses.
thank you

the only way I could envision measuring the moisture would be with a humidity sensor. TI makes a small 3mmx3mm I2C sensor HDC1080 that has a +-2% accuracy along with a +-0.2C temperature sensor.

I could envision using multiple of these sensors, some inside the bandage, other open to room air. The difference between them could be used for your decision points.

Chuck.

#7