{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T15:05:19Z","timestamp":1769007919254,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,27]],"date-time":"2019-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1558915200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cast fixation is a general clinical skill used for the treatment of fractures. However, it may cause many complications due to careless treatment procedures. Currently, swathing a cast for a patient can only be determined by a doctors\u2019 experience; however, this cannot be determined by the value of pressure, temperature, or humidity with objective and reliable equipment. When swathing a cast for a patient, the end result is often too tight or too loose. Hence, in this paper we developed a sensor for detecting pressure, temperature, and humidity, respectively. This could provide reliable reference cast data to help physicians to understand the tightness of cast swathing and to adjust the tightness of cast swathing instantly to alleviate a patient\u2019s complications caused by excessive pressure or overheating. In this paper, six pressure sensors and one temperature\u2013humidity sensor are used to detect the pressure, temperature, and humidity in an arm swathed with a cast to confirm whether the tightness of the cast is fixing the fracture efficiently, while avoiding causing any damage by using excessive pressure. Currently, the variation in temperature and humidity can be detected by the inflammation of the wound, displaying secretions, and fever in the cast. Based on the experiments, the voltage and power conversion coefficients of the developed sensors could be compensated for by the nonlinear error of the sensor. The experimental results could be instantly displayed on a human interface, such as a smart mobile device. The average skin pressure in a swathed cast was 12.14 g and ranged from 5.0 g to 17.5 g. A few casts exceeded 37.50 g. The abnormal pressure of wrinkles produced during swathing a cast often ranged from 22.50 g to 38.75 g. This shows that cast wrinkles cause pressure on the skin. The pressure caused by cast wrinkles on bone protrusions ranged from 56.5 g to 84.4 g. Compared to other parts that lacked soft skin cushioning, the pressure of cast wrinkles that occurred in the ulna near the protrusion of the wrist bone increased averagely. The pressure error value was less than 2%, the temperature error was less than 1%, and the humidity error was less than 5%. Therefore, they were all in line with the specifications of commercially available products. The six pressure detection points and one temperature and humidity detection point in our newly designed system can accurately measure the pressure, temperature, and humidity inside the cast, and instantly display the corresponding information by mobile APP. Doctors receive reliable reference data and are instantly able to understand the tightness of the swathed cast and adjust it at any time to avoid complications caused by pressure or overheating due to excessive pressure.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s19102417","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,27]],"date-time":"2019-05-27T11:19:27Z","timestamp":1558955967000},"page":"2417","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Development of a System for Real-Time Monitoring of Pressure, Temperature, and Humidity in Casts"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Chiu-Ching","family":"Tuan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9348-0899","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chi-Heng","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Linkou 33305, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi-Chao","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interdisciplinary Program of Green and Information Technology, National Taitung University, Taitung 95092, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2858-5552","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wen-Ling","family":"Yeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Linkou 33305, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mei-Chuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Linkou 33305, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3112-3594","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tsair-Fwu","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Physics and Informatics Lab., Department of Electronics Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yu-Jing","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 10608, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1125-0932","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hsuan-Kai","family":"Kao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Linkou 33305, Taiwan"},{"name":"Bone and Joint Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou 33305, Taiwan"},{"name":"College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1186\/1756-0500-1-59","article-title":"Skateboards: Are They Really Perilous? 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