Modelling and Trials of Pyroelectric Sensors for Improving its Application for Biodevices

Active or “Intelligent” Materials are capable of responding in a controlled way to different external physical or chemical stimuli by changing some of their properties. These materials can be used to design and develop sensors, actuators and multifunctional systems with a large number of applications for developing medical devices. Pyroelectric materials, with thermoelectrical properties coupling, can be used as temperature sensors with applications in the development of several biodevices, including the combination with other thermally active materials, whose actuation can be improved by means of precise temperature registration. This paper makes an introduction to pyroelectricity and its main applications in the development of biodevices, focusing also in the pyroelectric properties of polyvinylidene fluoride or PVDF and presenting some results related with sensors’ behaviour modelling and characterization.