Article

A Novel Adaptive Flexible Capacitive Sensor for Accurate

Intravenous Fluid Monitoring in Clinical Settings
Yang He, Fangfang Yang, Pengxuan Wei, Zongmin Lv and Yinghong Zhang *

School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China;
[email protected] (Y.H.); [email protected] (F.Y.); [email protected] (P.W.);
[email protected] (Z.L.)
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract
Intravenous infusion is an important clinical medical intervention, and its safety is critical
to patient recovery. To mitigate the elevated risk of complications (e.g., air embolism)
arising from delayed response to infusion endpoints, this paper designs a flexible double
pole capacitive (FPB) sensor, which includes a main pole plate, an adaptive pole plate, and
a back shielding electrode. The sensor establishes a mapping between residual liquid vol-
ume in the infusion bottle and its equivalent capacitance, enabling a non-contact adaptive
monitoring system. The system enables precise quantification of residual liquid levels,
suppressing baseline drift induced by environmental temperature/humidity fluctuations
and container variations via an adaptive algorithm, without requiring manual calibration,
and overcomes the limitations of traditional rigid sensors when adapting to curved con-
tainers. Experimental results showed that the system achieved an overall sensitivity of
753.5 fF/mm, main pole plate linearity of 1.99%, and adaptive pole plate linearity of 0.53%
across different test subjects, linearity of 0.53% across different test subjects, with liquid
level resolution accuracy reaching 1 mm. These results validate the system’s ultra-high
resolution (1 mm) and robust adaptability.

Keywords: double pole plate; flexible capacitive sensing; adaptive; calibration-free

Academic Editor: Mihaela Tertis

Received: 9 June 2025

Revised: 17 July 2025 1. Introduction
Accepted: 19 July 2025 Intravenous (IV) infusion is regarded as a clinical “lifeline”, with a high utilization
Published: 21 July 2025
rate of 71.9–95.0% in hospitalized patients [1], and is an extremely important therapeutic
Citation: He, Y.; Yang, F.; Wei, P.; Lv, tool. However, IV infusion harbors many medical care safety hazards, and problems such
Z.; Zhang, Y. A Novel Adaptive
as air embolism, phlebitis, and oozing are common. Among them, air embolism has a high
Flexible Capacitive Sensor for
lethality rate, and failure to treat promptly when the infusion is incomplete is one of the
Accurate Intravenous Fluid
Monitoring in Clinical Settings.
main reasons for this serious condition. Currently, liquid level monitoring technology is
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524. https:// one of the effective solutions to prevent air embolism caused by empty infusion bottles.
doi.org/10.3390/s25144524 However, the existing technologies still have problems such as unclear working principles
Copyright: © 2025 by the authors.
and limited use conditions, which make it difficult to achieve accurate early warning before
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. the end of infusion.
This article is an open access article Currently, liquid level monitoring techniques can be categorized into two systems:
distributed under the terms and contact and non-contact [2]. Among the contact methods are the following: (1) fiber
conditions of the Creative Commons
optic level monitoring [3–5]: based on the optical signal modulation principle, with anti-
Attribution (CC BY) license
electromagnetic interference capability and high temperature and pressure resistance,
(https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).
suitable for monitoring chemically corrosive liquids, but its measurement accuracy is

Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 https://doi.org/10.3390/s25144524

Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 2 of 17

susceptible to liquid adhesion interference; (2) electrode level monitoring [6]: achieving
level triggering through the conductive liquid and electrode, with advantages of low cost
and fast response, but only applicable to conductive media and with the risk of electrode
contamination. Non-contact technologies include the following: (1) microwave level moni-
toring [7]: using the microwave reflection principle to achieve ±1 mm high-precision-level
measurement, able to adapt to extreme environments, but its signal attenuation is sensitive
to the low dielectric constant of the liquid and the equipment cost is higher; (2) optical level
monitoring [8,9]: based on the characteristics of light reflection/refraction, applicable to
rapid monitoring of transparent liquids, but bubbles or vapors will lead to measurement
deviation; (3) image level monitoring [10,11]: analyzing the liquid surface morphology
through machine vision, capable of handling complex dynamic scenes, but its performance
depends on lighting conditions and has a computational load issue; (4) capacitance level
monitoring [12–14]: based on the principle that the liquid level change causes a change in
the effective area of the electrodes, with a compact structure, but temperature, humidity,
and container shape will affect the measurement accuracy; (5) ultrasonic level monitor-
ing [15,16]: based on the principle of acoustic time-of-flight, with advantages of convenient
installation and high cost-effectiveness, but requiring temperature adaptation and being
susceptible to foam interference. All of the above methods have their own advantages, but
in specific application scenarios (e.g., intravenous fluid (IV) level monitoring), these meth-
ods still face limitations such as high technical complexity, expensive cost, or dependence
on specific environmental conditions (e.g., light).
Current IV level monitoring technologies face multiple technical bottlenecks: the CD4-
LLS capacitive device developed by Zhongyue Tang’s team [17] has a wide range (900 mm)
and high linearity, but it relies on a manual pre-calibration process; N. Giaquinto et al.’s [18]
deep-learning-based multiview vision system achieves full-scene recognition but has a cost-
robustness imbalance due to high computing power requirements and sensitivity to the
light environment; Lee J-K et al. [19] used a mechanical–optical multi-sensor fusion strategy
to increase the dynamic droplet monitoring rate to 88%, but the multi-sensor architecture
significantly increased the system power consumption and integration complexity; Wei-
Hsiung Tseng et al. [20] designed a biconvex lens light-focusing module to optimize
sensitivity, but the precision optical components pose miniaturization design challenges
and the risk of lens contamination. None of the above studies have effectively addressed the
synergistic optimization among environmental interference suppression, cost constraints,
and measurement reliability in medical scenarios. A comparative analysis between the
aforementioned IV monitoring schemes and the IV monitoring system based on a flexible
(FPC) double pole capacitive sensor proposed in this study is presented in Table 1.
To address the measurement limitations of the existing intravenous infusion monitor-
ing technologies, this paper designs a flexible (FPC) coplanar double plates capacitance
sensor based on the parallel-plate capacitance sensing mechanism, and establishes the
mapping relationship between the residual amount of liquid in the infusion bottle and the
capacitance analog by deploying two metal detection pole plates of different sizes on the
front side of the flexible material and metal integrating shielding electrodes on the back side.
On this basis, an adaptive intravenous infusion monitoring system was constructed. The
system’s high-precision capacitance detection circuit paired with the adaptive algorithm
realizes the conversion of capacitance analog quantity to the height data of liquid residual
quantity, effectively eliminates the influence brought by disturbing factors such as the
physical properties of infusion bottles and differences in the dielectric properties of solu-
tions, and significantly improves the universality of level detection for multi-scenarios and
multi-dosage forms of intravenous fluids. Finally, five types of clinically used intravenous
fluids are selected for multi-group parallel control experiments. The experimental results
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 3 of 17

show that the system has high-precision measurement and self-adaptive capabilities and
can meet the demand for non-contact detection of intravenous fluids in clinical medicine.

Table 1. Comparison of sensors used for IV monitoring.

Reference [17] [18] [19] [20] This Work

Capacitively
coupled Deep Multi-sensor
Measurement Optical sensing Non-contact
contactless learning-based fusion (optical +
Method with focusing lens capacitive
conductivity computer vision load cell)
detection (C4 D)
Flexible (FPC)
Excitation double pole
LED light source,
electrode, Camera and Photosensor capacitive sensor
biconvex focusing
detection electrode, custom neural (650 nm laser + (main pole plate,
Sensor Structure lens (BFL),
shielding electrode network (for drop photoresistor) and adaptive pole
light-sensing
on flexible state classification) load cell plate, back
module (Cds)
substrate shielding
electrode)
Resolution 0.2 mm / / / 1 mm
Monitoring
100% 100% 88% 100% 100%
Accuracy Rate
Calibration
Required Yes Yes Yes Yes No
(Yes/No)
Cost Very low High Low High Very low
High sensitivity
(753.5 fF/mm);
Wide range (up to Non-invasive; Enhanced calibration-free;
Improved accuracy
900 mm); flexible; full-scene sensitivity via adaptability to
under dynamic
Key Advantages applicable to recognition; optical focusing; curved containers;
conditions; Wi-Fi
various contain- suitable for Bluetooth wireless excellent linearity
remote monitoring
ers/materials telemedicine monitoring (main pole plate:
1.99%; adaptive
pole plate: 0.35%)
Requires manual
High Increased power
calibration; low Miniaturization No obvious
computational consumption and
Key Limitations sensitivity for challenges; risk of drawbacks at
power; sensitive to integration
low-dielectric lens contamination present
lighting conditions complexity
materials

2. Theoretical Principles
Based on classical electromagnetic field theory, a parallel-plate capacitor is funda-
mentally configured with two parallel conductive pole plates subjected to a potential
difference, between which a quasi-static electric-field energy-storing system is established
via dielectric isolation [21]. As the core parameter characterizing charge storage capability,
capacitance is positively proportional to the effective overlapping area of the pole plates.
Leveraging this physical property, a parallel-plate capacitive structure is formed through
electric-field coupling among three components: the intravenous fluid (acting as a movable
pole plate, since clinical intravenous infusions primarily artificially formulated electrolyte
solutions contain abundant free ions from dissolution, rendering them highly conductive),
the composite dielectric layer comprising the insulated infusion container wall and an
adhesive layer (the latter ensures intimate contact between the sensor and container wall,
eliminating air gaps and suppressing stray capacitance to enhance measurement accuracy),
and the capacitance sensor (serving as the fixed pole plate). Consequently, the capacitance
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 4 of 17

magnitude is proportional to the height of the residual intravenous fluid covering the
pole plate. Furthermore, the back surface of the capacitance sensor integrates shielding
electrodes to mitigate the influence of parasitic capacitance and ambient interfering electric
fields [22].
The detection principle of the capacitance sensor is schematically illustrated in Figure 1.
The main pole plate forms a capacitance C1 through coupling with the intravenous fluid,
while the adaptive pole plate forms C2 via coupling with the same fluid; the shielding
electrode forms capacitances C3 and C4 through coupling with the main pole plate and the
adaptive pole plate, respectively. Notably, C3 and C4 assist in suppressing stray capacitance
but are negligible in theoretical analyses [23]. Importantly, extraneous interference from
coplanar capacitive coupling is avoided by employing a common excitation source for both
the main pole plate and adaptive pole plate [24].

Figure 1. Schematic of the capacitive sensor detection principle.

Based on the physical model of the capacitance sensor outlined above, we proceed
to derive the mathematical model for capacitance measurement. Let the width of the pole
plate be w, the height of the remaining IV fluid covering the pole plate be h, and the effective
area be A. Since the flexible pole plate is tightly adhered to the container wall, the effective
areas of capacitances C1 and C2 correspond exactly to the area wetted by the IV fluid, i.e.,

A = wh (1)

From the parallel-plate capacitance equation,

ε0εe A
C= (2)
d
where ε0 is the vacuum permittivity, ε e is the relative permittivity of the inter-plate dielectric,
and d the plate separation. For the composite dielectric layer (adhesive + IV container wall),
the equivalent relative permittivity is as follows:
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 5 of 17

ds + d j
εe = dj
(3)
ds
εs + εj

Here, εs , ds are the adhesive layer’s permittivity and thickness; ε j , d j are the container
wall’s permittivity and thickness. Under ideal conditions, capacitance is thus:

ε 0 ε e wh
Ct = (4)
ds + d j

The above derivation assumes ideal conditions with a uniform electric-field distribu-
tion across the pole plate. In reality, edge electric fields are non-uniform (Figure 2).

Flexible pole plates

Intravenous fluids
Figure 2. Schematic distribution of electric-field lines between the pole plates.

To mitigate fringing effects, a parallel compensation capacitance C e is introduced [25].

Let C s denote the actual measured capacitance; the corrected expression from Equation (4)
is as follows:

Cs = Ct + Ce
( " !#)
ε 0 ε e wh ε e h 2πw 2πw
= + 1 + ln 1 + + ln 1 + +
ds + d j π ds + d j ds + d j (5)
( " !#)
εew 2πh 2πh
1 + ln 1 + + ln 1 +
π ds + d j ds + d j

Equation (5) describes the sensor–fluid coupling capacitance, extending the parallel-
plate model with corrections for composite dielectric permittivity and edge field distribu-
tion. It quantifies capacitance–physical parameter relationships, integrating container wall
dielectric properties and edge effects to characterize the mapping between remaining fluid
height and output capacitance.

3. Sensor Design and Fabrication

This section elaborates on the sensor design. The sensor utilizes polyimide (PI) as
the flexible substrate and 3M double-sided tape as the adhesive. Polyimide exhibits
excellent insulation, flexibility, chemical stability, low thermal expansion coefficient, and
low hygroscopicity—properties that significantly mitigate environmental interference [26].
Given the variability in environmental parameters across intravenous fluid containers,
fixing the environmental parameters of a single pole plate (per Equation (5)) would intro-
duce measurement errors for different objects due to parameter fluctuations. To address
this, two metal pole plates (identical width, varying lengths) are positioned on the same
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 6 of 17

horizontal plane of the flexible substrate, arranged vertically in parallel with a 2 mm gap
(a spacing that does not impact performance). One serves as an adaptive pole plate to cali-
brate environmental parameters, enabling dynamic adjustment to environmental changes;
the other functions as the main pole plate to monitor the remaining intravenous fluid level
based on the environmental parameters measured by the adaptive pole plate. The initial
position and total length of the main pole plate outside the bottle determine the starting
value and total range of fluid level monitoring.
To ensure the sensor accurately measures the remaining amount of intravenous drug
solution, the sensor’s tip must be closely positioned near the upper part of the intravenous
infusion bottle’s mouth. Therefore, the sensor’s width shall not exceed the outer diameter
of the bottle mouth. Simultaneously, to maximize sensor sensitivity, its width should
match the bottle’s outer diameter. By reviewing the data, the outer diameter of common
IV bottles is found to be 20 mm. Considering the above constraints and the requirement
for maximum sensitivity, the sensor width is set to 20 mm. According to the “IV Therapy
Nursing Technical Code of Practice”, nurses should monitor the infusion situation within
6 min before the infusion ends. Considering the general drop rate (60 drops/min) and
drop coefficient (15 drops/mL), the sensor is placed at the top of the remaining liquid.
Calculations show that the sensor is triggered when the remaining liquid is 24 mL, so the
length of the main pole plate is set to 24 mm.
The adaptive pole plate is used for environmental parameter measurement, with its
length positively correlated to measurement accuracy. Comparative experiments (main
pole plate: 24 mm × 20 mm; adaptive pole plate: 18 mm width with lengths of 1, 2, 3,
and 4 mm) confirmed that a 4 mm length results in a relative error between the integrated
environmental coefficients of the adaptive and main pole plates of less than 1%, meeting
system requirements. Experimental results are presented in Section IV.
In summary, the main pole plate is designed as 24 mm × 20 mm, and the adaptive pole
plate as 4 mm × 20 mm. A 20 mm × 30 mm rectangular shielding electrode is integrated
on the back of the flexible substrate to isolate electromagnetic interference. Electrical
connection between the sensor and main control board is achieved via a connector with
an array of metal pins (4 mm length, 1 mm width, 1 mm pitch). The back of the pole
plates is reinforced with PI to enhance mechanical strength, while 3M double-sided tape
ensures firm adhesion to the bottle. Sensor prototypes, fabricated by JLCPCB (Shenzhen,
China) and shown in Figure 3, utilize a mature FPC manufacturing process suitable for
mass production with competitive costs.

connectors

shielding electrode
main polar plate

adaptive polar plate

back side front side

Figure 3. Actual image of flexible capacitive sensor.
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 7 of 17

4. Detection System Design

4.1. Hardware Design
The FDC2214, a four-channel high-precision capacitance digitizer from Texas Instru-
ments (TI, Dallas, TX, USA), is designed for non-contact sensing in complex environments.
Based on LC resonance principles, it converts capacitance variations induced by the target
into digital outputs. With 28-bit resolution, support for four-channel multi-node moni-
toring, and a maximum sampling rate of 13.3 ksps, its innovative anti-jamming design
integrates differential sensing and electromagnetic shielding to suppress ambient noise, en-
suring stable performance under temperature fluctuations, humidity changes, or pollutant
exposure. The simplified circuit of the FDC2214 (from its datasheet) is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Simplified circuit diagram of FDC2214. Here, L denotes an inductor (18 µH), C a capacitor
(33 pF), and R a resistor (10 kΩ). The black rectangular frame encloses the chip’s internal logic
circuit schematic.

In Figure 4, C1 and C2 represent the equivalent capacitances formed by the main and
adaptive pole plates with the intravenous fluid, respectively. According to the FDC2214
chip manual, their values are derived using the following:

1
Cx = (6)
L(2π f sensor )2

where f sensor is the resonant frequency, L is the 18 µH inductance in the LC oscillation

circuit, and Cx (including the 33 pF capacitor C) is the measured capacitance. According to
the FDC2214 chip manual, the resonant frequency is calculated as follows:

f REF · DATA
f sensor = (7)
228
with f REF being the 40 MHz crystal oscillator and DATA the system-acquired digital
capacitance value. Substituting Equation (7) into Equation (6) yields the following:

2
1 228
Cx = ( ) (8)
L 2π f REF · DATA

Thus, the analog capacitance from the sensor is digitized by the FDC2214, and the
coupling capacitance with the intravenous fluid is derived via Equation (8). The hardware
design block diagram and main control board are shown in Figures 5 and 6, respectively.
The ESP32-WROOM microprocessor serves as the core control unit, real-time collecting
digital signals from flexible capacitance sensors via the I 2 C bus. These signals are processed
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 8 of 17

by adaptive algorithms to predict the remaining fluid height and infusion completion time.
Structured data are transmitted to mobile monitoring platforms (e.g., mobile apps) using
the MQTT protocol. When the liquid level drops below the safety threshold, a graded
alarm is activated: priority alarms are first sent to the host computer; if unacknowledged
within a preset delay, a GPIO-driven acoustic–optic module triggers on-site warnings via
LED strobing and beeping, forming a closed-loop safety system.

I 2C Capacitance Flexible capacitive

detection circuit sensors

ESP32
Buzzer,
logical
LED light
processing unit

Mobile APP

Figure 5. Block diagram of system structure.

Capacitance detection Logical processing

circuit unit

Sensor connection
block

Figure 6. Main control board.

4.2. Software Design

4.2.1. Adaptive Algorithm Foundation Building
To ensure experimental rationality and accuracy, Equation (5) is optimized using
the sensor’s actual dimensions (Section 3). Given the flexible capacitive sensor’s main
pole plate length = 24 mm, adaptive pole plate length = 4 mm, and maximum height of
remaining IV fluid covering the pole plate = 24 mm, we analyze Equation (5) for h ∈ (0, 24).
We define the following:
" !#
2πh 2πh
f (h) = ln 1 + + ln 1 + (9)
ds + d j ds + d j

For h → 0 , f (h) is Taylor-expanded to first order. Within the range of h, the ratio
of C s before and after expansion is approximately 1, allowing Equation (5) to be simplified
as follows:
( ( " !#) )
ε0 εe w εe 2πw 2πw 4εe w εe w
Cs ≈ + 1 + ln 1 + + ln 1 + + h+ (10)
ds + dj π ds + dj ds + dj ds + dj π
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 9 of 17

We then take into account the influence of parasitic capacitance C j (from components
like the circuit board and shielding layer), which is in parallel with C s , requires Equation (10)
to be corrected as follows:
( ( " !#) )
ε0 εe w εe 2πw 2πw 4εe w εe w
Cse ≈ + 1 + ln 1 + + ln 1 + + h+ + Cj (11)
ds + dj π ds + dj ds + dj ds + dj π

Sensor sensitivity, derived from Equation (11), is as follows:

∆Cse
k= (12)
∆h
The above is the mathematical model expression of Equation (5) after simplification
based on the physical model of the flexible capacitive sensor. Through the derivation of the
sensor’s mathematical model, it can be concluded that the sensor exhibits the following
three characteristics: First, from Equation (2), as the distance between the sensor and
the intravenous fluid is much smaller than the effective area of the pole plate, the initial
capacitance value will vary due to differences in the wall thickness of different infusion
containers and the dielectric constant of their materials. Second, from Equation (11), since
the dielectric constant and geometrical dimensions of the flexible sensor are constant, the
capacitances C1 and C2 will change linearly with the height h of the fluid covering the pole
plate. Finally, from Equation (12), the detection sensitivity of the sensor is influenced by the
dielectric constant and thickness of the fluid container.

4.2.2. Adaptive Algorithm Implementation

To meet the demand for real-time monitoring of clinical intravenous infusion, the
liquid level height resolution of the remaining intravenous fluid covering the pole plate
is calibrated to 1 mm (The FDC2214 capacitive digitizer equations 28-bit high resolu-
tion, enabling detection sensitivity at the sub-femtofarad ( f F) level. When applied
to other high-precision measurement scenarios, the system’s functionality can be mi-
grated by reconstructing the signal processing algorithm at the software layer without
requiring hardware architecture
n hadjustments. Through
 Equation
io (11), the following was
ε0 εe w
found: let k = + επe 1 + ln 1 + d2πw
ds +dj s +dj
+ ln 1 + d2πw
s +dj
+ d4εs +e w εe w
dj , d = π + Cj , then
Equation (8) can be expressed as a primary function with h as the independent variable:

Cse = kh + d (13)

When the height of the intravenous fluid covering the sensor exceeds 26 mm,
let C2b and C2e denote consecutive capacitance measurements acquired by the main
control circuit via Equation (8) for the adaptive pole plate, with corresponding liquid
heights h2b and h2e ( h2b > h2e ) covering the adaptive pole plate. From Equation (13),

C2b − C2e = k2 ( h2b − h2s ) (14)

Let ∆C2 = C2b − C2e , ∆h2 = h2b − h2s , then Equation (14) can be rewritten as follows:

∆C2 = k2 ∆h2 (15)

According to Equation (15), once the measurement environment of the adaptive elec-
trode is established, the physical properties of the measured object (e.g., the material, wall
thickness, and dielectric constant of intravenous infusion bottles) and non-abrupt environ-
mental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.) will be determined. During capacitance
sampling at each sampling cycle, the error capacitance introduced by variations in the
infusion bottle’s physical properties and non-abrupt environmental factors is captured as
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 10 of 17

fixed parasitic capacitance in every sampling. Thus, the capacitance difference between
two consecutive samples comprises only the capacitance variation caused by liquid level
changes, while the parasitic capacitance resulting from the inherent physical properties of
the infusion bottle and non-abrupt environmental factors is eliminated by the difference
calculation. This ensures the detection system is immune to errors induced by discrepancies
in the physical properties of the measured object and non-abrupt environmental factors,
thereby achieving adaptive calibration.
Similarly, for the main pole plate with fluid height in (0, 24) mm, the capacitance
variation with liquid height is expressed as

∆C1 = k1 ∆h1 (16)

Equation (8) reveals that the environmental adaptation coefficient k is governed by the
synergistic interaction of the three parameters ε e , ds + d j , and w. Given that the adaptive
pole plate and the main pole plate are integrated into the same monitoring system, and
their environmental action parameters exhibit synchronous variation characteristics, the
equivalence of their environmental adaptation coefficients can be derived as (k1 = k1 ). Un-
der this equivalence constraint, the analytical expression for the height hw of the remaining
liquid in the intravenous infusion is given by the following:

∆C1
hw = 24 − (17)
k2

Furthermore, the system detection process is outlined as follows: when the height
of the intravenous medicinal fluid covering the flexible capacitive sensor falls within the
interval hw ∈ [26, 30] (unit: mm), the system activates an adaptive learning mode, sampling
and storing the capacitance value of the adaptive pole plate at a 1 s interval. When the
height reaches hw ∈ [24, 26] (unit: mm), least-squares fitting is performed to calculate the
environmental coefficient using historical data from the adaptive pole plate. When the
height is hw ∈ [0, 24] (unit: mm), this coefficient is combined with Equation (17) to achieve
precise calculation of the liquid level height of the remaining intravenous drug solution,
which is then transmitted to the mobile APP via the CPU.
The liquid level state transition triggers a multi-stage data processing mechanism: at
the initial infusion stage, the sensor is fully submerged, leading to a capacitance steady
state. Upon detecting the first-order capacitance change, the system identifies the height
hw ∈ [26, 30] (unit: mm). Leveraging the uncoated copper buffer strip between the pole
plates, when the detected capacitance enters a secondary steady state, it indicates that the
adaptive pole plate has detached from the liquid surface at height hw ∈ [24, 26] (unit: mm).
The subsequent dynamic capacitance response corresponds to the height hw ∈ [0, 24] (unit:
mm). This multi-threshold decision strategy ensures the robustness of liquid level detection
by integrating hardware topology characterization and signal pattern recognition.
Consequently, the model effectively mitigates the impact of environmental parameter
fluctuations on the measurement system by continuously collecting capacitance differences
detected by the flexible capacitive sensors for comparative analysis. This approach enables
the measurement of the remaining fluid height and predicts the completion time of the
infusion based on the rate of capacitance change. Moreover, due to the adoption of differen-
tial processing, the system remains unaffected by non-instantaneous environmental factors
such as temperature, humidity, and parasitic capacitance.
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 11 of 17

5. Experiment
Having described the working mechanism of the IV infusion testing system in the
preceding section, this section establishes an experimental environment consistent with
typical indoor clinical settings (temperature: 18–26 ◦ C; relative humidity: 40–60%) to align
with real-world indoor clinical conditions, as shown in Figure 7a. Five representative
intravenous solutions commonly used in clinical practice were selected as test substrates,
depicted in Figure 7b, including 5% glucose injection, compound sodium chloride injection,
calcium gluconate injection, 0.9% sodium chloride saline, and sodium lactate Ringer’s
injection. These samples were chosen to cover variations in dielectric properties and ionic
concentrations, facilitating a robust assessment of the system’s adaptability across clinically
relevant fluid types. The experimental design is grounded in the correlation between the
physical properties of different IV fluids/containers and sensor responses, constructing a
generalized validation framework for infusion level detection.

Intravenous drug
solution A B C D

Mobile APP
E

Level monitoring
sensors
IV catheter

(a) (b)

Figure 7. The experimental test scenario and the intravenous drug solutions used in the experiment.
In (a), shows the test scenario for this sensor. In (b), A, B, C, D, and E represent five commonly used
intravenous solutions: 5% glucose injection, compound sodium chloride injection, calcium gluconate
injection, 0.9% sodium chloride saline, and sodium lactate Ringer’s injection.

All solutions were contained in polypropylene (PP) containers with a dielectric con-
stant range of 2.2–2.3 and a wall thickness of 2–4 mm. To ensure experimental consistency,
all tests were performed under controlled indoor conditions (temperature: 18–26 ◦ C; rel-
ative humidity: 40–60%). Installation of the monitoring system involved two key steps:
first, the sensor was firmly affixed to the outer container wall using 3M adhesive to ensure
intimate contact; second, electrical interconnection between the sensor and main control
board was established via a dedicated connector to enable signal transmission.
After system initialization, baseline capacitance measurements were performed for the
five intravenous solutions under non-infusion conditions. During this phase, the fluid level
completely covered both the main pole plate and adaptive pole plate, with 40 consecutive
capacitance datasets collected at 1 s intervals. Given the discrete nature of initial capacitance
values arising from differences in the measured media, a baseline normalization method
was employed: the minimum capacitance value among the 40 datasets was designated as
the reference, and the differences between the remaining measurements and this reference
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 12 of 17

were used as analytical data. Notably, raw capacitance values included parasitic compo-
nents from sources such as sensing electrodes and PCB traces. Table 2 summarizes the
initial minimum capacitance values of the main and adaptive pole plates across different
fluid conditions. After data processing, the capacitive response characteristics of each pole
plate in various media are visualized in Figure 8, with separate plots for the main pole
plate and adaptive pole plate.

Table 2. Minimum measured values of initial capacitance for each drug solution.

Measurement Objects Main Pole Plate (pF) Adaptive Pole Plate (pF)
5% Dextrose Injection 1198.095 497.417
Compound Sodium Chloride Injection 1186.533 498.586
Calcium Gluconate Injection 1196.665 497.351
9% Sodium Chloride Injection 1202.134 499.076
Lactated Ringer’s Injection 1183.385 495.570

(a) (b)

Figure 8. Initial capacitance test results for each intravenous drug solution. Graphs (a,b), respectively,
represent the measurement results of the main pole plate and the adaptive pole plate when facing
different experimental subjects.

Under standardized conditions, the sensor demonstrated distinct response patterns to

different IV fluids. Specifically, the capacitance difference between the main and adaptive
pole plates directly correlated with dielectric property variations arising from differences
in container parameters. As shown in Figure 8, the deviation between the detected ca-
pacitance and reference capacitance for both pole plate types fluctuated within the range
(0.1, 0.22) across all tested solutions, indicating a high degree of consistency. This outcome
confirms that the sensor exhibits excellent reproducibility during routine operation in
clinical environments. The observed differences primarily stem from intrinsic variations in
container physical parameters, which align with the characteristics of the theoretical model
described by Equation (2).
To validate the system’s monitoring performance during dynamic infusion, experi-
ments were conducted by setting the flow rate to 60 drops/min (mimicking clinical routine)
via a flow controller, with the device tracking liquid levels for the five distinct solutions. For
each solution, continuous level measurements were recorded at 1 mL volume intervals by
manually regulating fluid discharge to simulate real-time infusion dynamics; each solution
was tested in five independent replicates to ensure statistical robustness. The measurement
results are presented in Figure 9.
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 13 of 17

Figure 9. Plot of fitted curves for intravenous drug solution data. (A–E) represent sodium lactate
Ringer injection, 5% dextrose injection, compound sodium chloride injection, 0.9% sodium chloride
saline, and calcium gluconate injection as the experimental objects, respectively. “1” denotes the test
results when the drug solution covers the adaptive pole plate, and “2” denotes the results when it
covers the main pole plate.

As illustrated in Figure 9, after five replicate tests for each solution, the system main-
tained stable detection accuracy under dynamic infusion conditions. Least-squares fitting
of the capacitive responses yielded strong linear correlations (minimum R2 > 0.9935), con-
firming the monitoring scheme’s superior robustness and linearity when handling diverse
fluids in actual clinical infusion scenarios, which validates the correctness of Equation (13).
Table 3 summarizes key parameters derived from the fitted curves: the slopes k z (adaptive
pole plate) and k s (main pole plate), the relative error α between these slopes, and the
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 14 of 17

linearity indices γz (adaptive pole plate) and γs (main pole plate). These parameters are
defined as follows:
|k s − k z |
α= × 100% (18)
ks
∆β
γ= × 100% (19)
λ
where ∆β denotes the maximum absolute deviation between the fitted values and measured
values, and λ represents the full-scale output range.

Table 3. Summary of calculated capacitive sensor parameters for diverse injectable solutions.

Intravenous Injection Solution kz (pF/mm) ks (pF/mm) γz (%) γs (%) α (%)

5% Dextrose Injection 0.756 0.761 1.91% 0.41% 0.66%
Compound Sodium Chloride Injection 0.721 0.723 2.21% 0.97% 0.27%
Calcium Gluconate Injection 0.751 0.748 2.14% 0.62% 0.4%
9% Sodium Chloride Injection 0.756 0.758 1.93% 0.55% 0.27%
Lactated Ringer’s Injection 0.753 0.757 1.91% 0.42% 0.53%

As shown in Table 3, the relative deviation of the linear slopes derived from least-
squares fitting between the main and adaptive pole plate is less than 1%. This not only
validates the correctness of Equation (3) in the theoretical model but also directly confirms
the equivalence of their sensitivity coefficients. By excluding extreme values (maximum
and minimum) from the slope dataset and calculating the arithmetic mean, this study
determined the integrated sensor sensitivity as 753.5 fF/mm(corresponding to a 1 mm
resolution) and derived the overall linearity of the main pole plate as γz = 1.99% and that of
the adaptive pole plate as γs = 0.35%. From a mechanistic perspective, the two electrodes
exhibit differentiated graded linear characteristics within the effective measurement range:
according to Equation (8), when the electrode width is fixed, the parasitic capacitance
induced by the capacitive edge effect displays a nonlinear positive correlation with liquid
coverage height. Given that the main pole plate length d1 = 24 mm is substantially greater
than the adaptive pole plate length d2 = 4 mm, the main pole plate accumulates a higher
maximum parasitic capacitance, resulting in a significantly steeper slope in its fitted curve
relative to the adaptive pole plate.
The aforementioned data comprehensively reveal the sensor’s dynamic monitoring
performance: in intravenous infusion scenarios, as the main pole plate has a length of
24 mm, the maximum height measurement error introduced by the main pole plate’s overall
linearity (γz = 1.99%) is less than 0.5 mm, which is far below the error range specified by
clinical alarm thresholds—typically requiring alarms to trigger when residual liquid height
is within 10 mm, with allowable error less than 1 mm. This enables near-instantaneous
warning activation, ensuring infusion safety. Meanwhile, as the adaptive pole plate has a
length of 4 mm, the measurement error (less than 0.05 mm) induced by its excellent overall
linearity (γs = 0.35%) is negligible relative to the system’s 1 mm resolution, effectively
mitigating interference from dynamic liquid surfaces on monitoring accuracy. Additionally,
the maximum relative error in slope fitting between the two electrodes across five parallel
experiments was only 0.66%, further validating the equivalence of their characteristics and
strong consistency with the theoretical model. In summary, the sensor’s mathematical
model has been experimentally validated, supporting the application of Equation (17) for
precise measurement of residual intravenous drug height (dynamic monitoring results for
the main pole plate coverage height are presented in Figure 10).
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 15 of 17

Figure 10. Comparison of the measured height of the drug solution with the actual height.

Figure 10 shows that during full-scale measurement, the difference between the height
of the liquid covering the main pole plate as measured by the sensor and the actual
liquid height is only 0.39 mm, fully meeting the accuracy requirements of the intravenous
infusion detection system with a 1 mm resolution. The data processed by the algorithm
and transmitted to the mobile phone APP via the CPU demonstrates that the displayed
residual IV fluid height aligns perfectly with the actual value. In 25 parallel simulation
experiments, the empty-bottle alarm successfully triggered with a 100% success rate.
Although this experiment only included five sets of parallel trials, the data indicate that
the sensor’s measurements of residual fluid height exhibit high consistency across different
intravenous solutions. The observed differences arise solely from the inherent physical
properties of the IV fluid containers, which align perfectly with theoretical predictions.
Thus, this system addresses critical limitations of existing technologies (e.g., eliminating
manual calibration, adapting to curved containers) and meets clinical demands for high-
precision IV monitoring. Its flexibility enables stable operation across diverse container
sizes and geometries, supporting broad clinical applicability.

6. Conclusions
Intravenous infusion, a critical clinical “lifeline” utilized by 71.9–95.0% of hospitalized
patients, poses substantial safety risks such as air embolism when infusion endpoints are
managed belatedly. Whereas existing monitoring technologies—both contact-based (e.g.,
fiber optic, electrode) and non-contact (e.g., microwave, optical, imaging)—exhibit inher-
ent limitations, including reliance on manual calibration, susceptibility to environmental
disturbances (temperature, humidity, container variations), poor adaptability to curved
containers, and high complexity or cost, this study has developed a non-contact adaptive
flexible monitoring system for intravenous infusion based on flexible (FPC) capacitive
sensors to address these unmet clinical demands. Characterized by a dual-pole plate
configuration (a main pole plate for liquid level monitoring and an adaptive pole plate
for environmental calibration), integrated with a back shielding electrode and an adaptive
algorithm, the system eliminates errors arising from container physical properties and non-
abrupt environmental factors without requiring manual calibration. Its flexibility further
overcomes the rigidity constraint of traditional sensors. Experimental validation using five
typical clinical intravenous solutions confirms its superior performance: a sensitivity of
Sensors 2025, 25, 4524 16 of 17

753.5 fF/mm, a resolution of 1 mm, a maximum measurement error of 0.39 mm, a 100%
success rate for empty-bottle alarms, and linearity of 1.99% (main pole plate) and 0.35%
(adaptive pole plate), all of which fully meet clinical requirements. This research not only
provides a reliable solution for accurate, real-time monitoring of intravenous fluids but
also enhances infusion safety and clinical efficiency, thereby holding significant value for
intelligent infusion management in clinical settings.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.H. and Y.Z.; Methodology, Y.H., P.W., and Y.Z.; Valida-
tion, Y.H. and Y.Z.; Data curation, Y.H. and F.Y.; Formal analysis, Y.H. and F.Y.; Funding acquisition,
Y.H. and Y.Z.; Investigation, Y.H.; Project administration, Y.Z.; Resources, Y.Z.; Software, Y.H. and P.W.;
Supervision, Y.Z.; Visualization, Y.H. and P.W.; Writing—original draft, Y.H.; Writing—review and
editing, Y.Z. and Z.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding: This research was funded by the 2025 Chinese College Students’ Entrepreneurship Training
Program “Adaptive Flexible Intravenous Infusion Level Monitoring System”.

Institutional Review Board Statement: This research did not require ethical approval.

Informed Consent Statement: This research did not involve humans.

Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the
first author.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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