← All projects

Materials & devices · A phantom finger for sensing

A phantom finger for sensing

How can a sensor be tested before it touches a person?

Project account · methods and observations from my study and research notes.

01 / The question

How can a sensor be tested before it touches a person?

The project created a finger-like phantom for electromagnetic probe testing when direct human testing was not available.

Measurement → processing → interpretation
Conceptual illustration of the approach

02 / The intuition

A mechanism worth testing.

A physical test object can support repeatable engineering measurements, but it must be characterised rather than assumed to behave like tissue.

03 / The work

Inside the method.

Explore each part of the approach.

01Select materials

The work considered PVA hydrogels, PVDF and rigid polymer components for the test object.

02Assemble a surrogate

The materials were combined into a practical test geometry for the sensing setup.

03Measure the response

A vector network analyser was used for electromagnetic characterisation and probe testing.

04 / The observations

What emerged.

The notes describe phantom construction and electromagnetic measurements as a route to evaluating a sensing setup.

This account is based on recorded project notes. Original reports, figures and datasets are not embedded here.

05 / The limits

Where the evidence stops.

A phantom response does not demonstrate non-invasive glucose or cortisol measurement in people. Biological representativeness and sensor specificity need separate evidence.

The academic foundations

Where this work connects.

Biology & biotechnologyMaterials & nanotechnologyPhysics & applied physics
Explore another projectOptical heart-rate measurement ↗