A squad of railroad engineer today announced a discovery that could change the world of electronics incessantly . call an “ epidermal electronic system ” ( EES ) , it ’s basically an electronic racing circuit mounted on your skin , designed to stretch , flex , and construction — and to take input from the movements of your trunk .
EES is a jump forward for wearable technology , and has potential applications ranging from aesculapian nosology to video secret plan restraint and accelerated wounding - healing . Engineers John Rogers and Todd Coleman , who worked on the discovery , say io9 it ’s a vast whole step towards erasing the divide that separate simple machine and human being .
Coleman and Rogers say they developed EES to forego the grueling and rigid electronic “ wafer ” format of traditional electronics in favor of a softer , more dynamic platform .
To accomplish this , their squad bring together scientists from several science laboratory to educate “ filamentary serpentine ” ( threadlike and squiggly ) circuitry . When this circuitry is mount on a thin , galosh substratum with pliant properties similar to cutis , the result is a flexible patch that can flex and twist , or inflate and contract , all without touch on electronic performance .
This video demonstrates the resiliency of the EES patch , and how easy it can be applied . The patch ( comprised of the circuitry and condom substrate ) is first mounted on a thin sheet of urine - soluble credit card , then apply to the skin with water like a temporary tattoo .
How Will We Wear Our Second Skin ?
So what can an EES really do for us ? The short result is : a band . In the paper key out their new engineering , publish in this hebdomad ’s issue of Science , the researchers illustrate the adaptability of their concept by exhibit functionality in a across-the-board regalia of electronic components , let in biometric sensors , LEDs , transistors , radio absolute frequency capacitor , wireless antenna , and even conductive curl and solar cellular telephone for power .
We enquire Rogers what he think were the most promising software for the new applied science . He said medicine was the most compelling :
Our paper demonstrates our power to supervise ECG ( as a varan of heart disease and metabolism ) , EMG ( as a measuring stick of , among other things , gait during walking ) and EEG ( as a measure of cognitive nation and awareness ) .
We have also establish that these same devices can stimulate muscle tissue paper to induce muscle contraction . When aggregate with detection / monitoring , such manner of use could be valuable in strong-arm rehabilitation . We also have interest in sleep monitoring ( for rest apnea ) , and neo - natal care ( supervise premature child , in particular ) .
According to Rogers , the electronic skin has already been shown to monitor patients ’ health measurements as efficaciously as formal state - of - the - art electrode that ask bulky pads , straps , and irritate adhesive gels . “ The fidelity of the measurement is equal to the best existing technology that is out there today , but in a very unique peel - like form , ” he explained .
What ’s more , the electronic skin ’s unique properties allow it to do thing that existing biometric sensing element simply ca n’t touch . Todd Coleman , who co - led the project with Rogers , told io9 how an EES could be applied to a person ’s pharynx to serve up as a communication aid :
Within the realm of biomedical practical app , one can reckon providing welfare to patient with hefty or neurologic disorder like ALS . For example , in the Science clause , our research grouping used the twist … to check a computer scheme game with heftiness in the throat by speaking the command .
In principle , the same function could have been accomplish by simply mouthing commands rather than speaking them out aloud . As such , this capability could be render to ALS patients so that they could “ talk ” through an cuticular electronics scheme that is un - obtrusive to them , and invisible to other percipient .
Eroding the Distinction Between Machine and Human
Outside the context of biomedicine , the EES ’s invisible nature open up a whole world of possibilities . The patches are already barely noticeable , but when mounted directly onto a impermanent tattoo , for example , any grounds of electronic circuitry evaporate . Coleman tell :
[ This engineering ] offer a huge conceptual advance in wedding the biological world to the cyber populace in a manner that is very lifelike . In some sensory faculty , the boundary between the electronics world and the biological world is becoming increasingly amorphous . The ramifications of this are mind - blowing , to say the least .
I envision sempiternal software that extend beyond biomedical applications . For model , we could use the accurate same technology – and specifically its discrete tattoo - like appearance – to perform covert military operations where an agent could communicate to the command station with these electric signal without ever speaking a word .
Coleman ’s assertion bear on on what is perhaps this most authoritative matter about today ’s annunciation , namely the precedent it set for succeeding technologies that direct to combine the organismal with the synthetic substance .
“ The blurring of electronics and biological science is really the cardinal point here , ” said Northwestern University ’s Yonggang Huang , with whom Rogers and Coleman cooperate . “ All found forms of electronics are hard , rigid . biological science is mild , pliant . It ’s two different worlds . This is a agency to unfeignedly desegregate them . ”
look to the future , Rogers echoes his colleague ’s sentiments . Describing what he envisions for his research radical in the come year , he said :
We would care to flesh out the functionality such that the devices not only seamlessly integrate with the human body in a mechanically skillful signified , but that they also communicate and interact with the tissue paper in modes that go beyond electrons and photons ( the ‘ currentness ’ of semiconductor machine technology ) , to the layer of fluid and biomolecules ( i.e. the ‘ currency ’ of biology ) . We are hope , in this way , to obscure the distinction between electronics and the human organic structure , in ways that can advance human health .
Additional interpretation
Visit the Rogers Research Groupat The University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign
chit-chat the Coleman Labat UC San Diego
Rogers and Coleman ’s research is published in tomorrow ’s issue of Science and is also availableonline .
All images good manners of John Rogers
bioengineeringFuturismScience
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