TIBI E-skin patch provides advanced healthcare monitoring

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Researchers in Los Angeles have developed what they said is a first-of-its-kind electronic skin patch for advanced healthcare monitoring.

TIBI scientists have developed a cryofreezing method to create an aerogel substrate layer that is flexible, breathable, ultralight, and moisture/air-permeable; these qualities are due to its highly uniform and interconnected pores and their potential for three-dimensional capillary action. Inset: scanning electron microscope image of the patch’s porous surface. The substrate’s enhanced capabilities also enable the ability to screen-print integrated multifunctional sensors directly onto the substrate surface
TIBI scientists have developed a cryofreezing method to create an aerogel substrate layer that is flexible, breathable, ultralight, and moisture/air-permeable; these qualities are due to its highly uniform and interconnected pores and their potential for three-dimensional capillary action. Inset: scanning electron microscope image of the patch’s porous surface. The substrate’s enhanced capabilities also enable the ability to screen-print integrated multifunctional sensors directly onto the substrate surface - Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation

Developed at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI), the electronic skin (E-skin) patch is said to provide simultaneous, continuous monitoring of multiple bodily parameters while also providing temperature-moisture management and breathability.

Electronic skin patches monitor bodily physiological and chemical indicators of health. Placed directly onto skin, these monitors measure factors including body motions and temperature, skin hydration, various metabolic biomarkers, and brain and heart functionality via electroencephalograms and electrocardiograms respectively.

A typical skin-sensing patch consists of a sensor layer, which converts physical information into electrical signals, positioned on top of a flexible, stretchable substrate layer that is placed on the subject’s skin and is resistant to mechanical deformation.

According to TIBI, a number of current substrates have mechanical and biological incompatibilities, plus poor breathability, which hamper multi-sensing ability and can result in skin irritation and inflammation, especially with long-term use. Moreover, most of the current substrates cannot be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

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E-skin patch