A Low-Cost 3D Printed Piezoresistive Airflow Sensor for Biomedical and Industrial Applications

Flow sensing is essential in biomedical engineering, industrial process control, and environmental monitoring.Conventional sensors, while accurate, are often constrained by high fabrication costs, complex processes, and limited design flexibility, restricting their use in disposable or rapidly customizable applications.This paper presents a novel ultra-low-cost airflow sensor fabricated entirely through fused deposition modeling 3D printing.The device employs a cantilever-based structure printed with PETg filament, followed by the deposition of a conductive ABS piezoresistive layer in a two-step process requiring no curing or post-processing.Experimental characterization reveals that the sensor operates in an ultra-low pressure range of 0.88-26.68Pa, corresponding to flow velocities of 1.2-6.6 m/s.The sensor achieves a sensitivity of 967 Ω/Pa, a resolution of 9.27 Pa, and a detection limit of 83.27 Pa, with a total resistance change of approximately 51.5 kΩ.This kilo-ohm-scale response enables direct readout via a digital multimeter without requiring Wheatstone bridges or instrumentation amplifiers.The minimalist design, combined with sub-5 min fabrication time and material cost below $0.05, positions this sensor as an accessible platform for disposable, scalable, and resource-constrained flow monitoring applications in both biomedical and industrial contexts.