High-precision pressure sensors today contain a pressure-transmitting medium, such as oil, that has the potential of leaking into the environment, an Epson Toyocom spokesperson said. The company's approach instead measures pressure with a frequency-stable QMEMS tuning fork as the pressure-sensing element. As pressure changes against the sensing element, the pressure-transmitting architecture directly reads out pressure without the risk that oil or hazardous gases will leach into the environment, the spokesperson said.

The first model of the new architecture, the XP-7000, can directly measure pressure with an accuracy of ±0.05 percent. The QMEMS sensor is also 40 percent smaller than other, similar pressure sensors, according to Epson Toyocom.

The high-precision sensor is aimed at applications requiring accurate measurement of water levels in rivers and sewers, or of fluid pressure levels in industrial plant equipment operating under stringent cleanliness requirements.