ABSTRACT
An in-shoe pressure sensor system measures the pressure distribution at he foot-shoe intarface. This tecnology has great potential as a useful tool in gait analysis. To be viable, devices for clinical and ergonomics research must meet a satisfactory level of accuracy and precision. Such requirements are deeply connected with the materials and tecnhiques used in their fabrication. In the present work, the fabrication of flexible circuits was studied in detail and is presented as alternative route to inshoe pressure sensor production. Chemical surface preparation for Ni electroless metalization of polyethylene terephalate films without using Cr⁺⁶ based chemicals was studied. The applicability of this method was verified by subsequent metallization process. Thermal analysis was conducted to observe the main thermal transitions and stability so as to optimize the substrate preparation process. X-ray diffraction, EDAX and scanning electron microscopy image analysis were used to understand phase composition and morphology of the polymeric substrate and of the Ni coating growing process...