GRAPHENE-LAMINATED FBG FLEX SENSOR ENCAPSULATED IN SILICONE FOR HUMAN JOINT MOVEMENT MONITORING

Authors

  • Ibrahim Isah ᵃDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, 860101 Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria ᵇFaculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Siti Mahfuza Saimon Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Asrul Izam Azmi Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Haniff Ibrahim Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Mohd Rashidi Salim Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Nurul Ashikin Daud Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Muhammad Yusof Mohd Noor Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Raja Kamarulzaman Raja Ibrahim Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jurnalteknologi.v87.21704

Keywords:

Fiber Bragg grating, silicone, graphene, human joint, wavelength shift

Abstract

Wearable medical devices for human joint monitoring are critical for applications such as rehabilitation, injury prevention, and performance optimization. However, capturing consistent joint motion data remains a significant challenge, requiring the development of reliable sensing technologies. This work proposes a graphene-laminated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) flex sensor encapsulated in silicone for human joint monitoring with high consistency. The sensor is formed by encapsulating an FBG and a graphene sheet between two silicone sheets, leveraging the graphene’s excellent mechanical properties to enhance the interface between the silicone coating and glass fiber. Additionally, integration into hand gloves to facilitate real-time monitoring of human finger joint movements was carried out. Experimental results demonstrate that the sensor with graphene offers superior consistency across varying displacement and bending ranges. It achieved sensitivities of -0.017 nm/mm and 0.0129 nm/° for displacement and finger bending, respectively, while maintaining lower standard deviation (SD) across test cycles, indicating better performance in consistency. Conversely, the sensor without graphene exhibited higher sensitivities of -0.0199 nm/mm and 0.0258 nm/o but lacked the consistency provided by the graphene-enhanced design. The proposed sensor has huge potential in wearable medical device applications for human joint mobility measurement, particularly in musculoskeletal rehabilitation.

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Published

2025-10-24

Issue

Vol. 87 No. 6: November 2025

Section

Science and Engineering

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Copyright of articles that appear in Jurnal Teknologi belongs exclusively to Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (Penerbit UTM Press). This copyright covers the rights to reproduce the article, including reprints, electronic reproductions, or any other reproductions of similar nature.

How to Cite

GRAPHENE-LAMINATED FBG FLEX SENSOR ENCAPSULATED IN SILICONE FOR HUMAN JOINT MOVEMENT MONITORING. (2025). Jurnal Teknologi (Sciences & Engineering), 87(6), 1079-1085. https://doi.org/10.11113/jurnalteknologi.v87.21704