ENGINEERING NOVEL ELECTRONICS FOR THE NEW SMART SENSING PARADIGM: FROM SENSOR TO END-USER IN A HYPERCONNECTED WORLD
This doctoral thesis addresses a critical gap in today’s digital revolution: the disconnect between advanced data processing technologies and the generation of reliable sensor data that feeds these systems. While society benefits from smart devices, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications, many systems still rely on bulky, expensive benchtop instrumentation for data collection, hindering the democratization and decentralization of sensing services.
The research focuses on engineering compact and portable electrochemical sensing platforms designed for wearable devices with wireless connectivity capabilities. The work proposes a fundamental transition from traditional electrochemical cells to simple, paper-based sensors, enabling significant sample volume reduction and enhanced portability for point-of-care applications. A major contribution involves developing novel organic electrochemical transistor architectures that operate in solid-state configurations, allowing measurements down to single droplets and flows. The thesis also presents innovative electronic solutions, including instrumentation amplifier-based analog front-ends that achieve tenfold increases in potentiometric response compared to conventional ion-selective electrodes. The research concludes with a complete portable sensing ecosystem—a compact system-on-a-module that integrates analog front-end and control units into a single board solution. This IoT-enabled platform enables wireless connectivity and multiplexed sensor measurements, supporting simultaneous detection of multiple analytes like glucose, lactate, and hydrogen peroxide.
The work encompasses the entire development pipeline from sensor fabrication through electronics design to cloud integration, creating hyperconnected IoT solutions that enable remote analyses. Services deployed through this framework become readily accessible via any connected device, potentially contributing to the democratization of industrial, environmental, wellness, and healthcare diagnostic services. Rather than providing immediate solutions, this thesis offers a comprehensive understanding of developing innovative technologies toward future hyperconnected sensor platforms, effectively bridging the digital-physical gap in contemporary sensing paradigms.
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