A medical pump or the like provides a flow sensor element that may be integrated into the IV tubing assembly. The flow sensor element fits within the medical pump which may provide for capacitive plates sensing changes in the electrical environment within the flow sensor element to deduce flow. For example, the flow sensor element may promote free space liquid drops that cause a periodic change in capacitance across the flow sensor element or the flow sensor element may hold a physical turbine or the like whose movement changes the capacitance across the capacitive plates.