Embedded gas sensing device promises simple, accurate volatile organic compounds detection
Jul 2021, phys.org
"In medical applications, doctors can investigate the exhaled breath of patients by this noninvasive method to signal the need for a more detailed checkup."
via American Institute of Physics: "Embedded gas sensing set-up for air samples analysis" Review of Scientific Instruments, aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0050445
Image credit: Diodes - Upsplash - 2022
Researchers developing smart dental implants that resist bacterial growth, generate their own electricity
Sep 2021, phys.org
Today they're talking about using it to power lights in your mouth, which is crazy as it is. But you know what happens when we make something that is at first intended to power lights...(electricity was first for lights, and that explains why the first electronic home appliances were wired to fit a light bulb socket).
"We're using a piezoelectric material, which can generate electrical power from natural oral motions to supply a light that can conduct phototherapy, and we find that it can successfully protect gingival tissue from bacterial challenge."
via University of Pennsylvania: Atul Dhall et al, Bimodal Nanocomposite Platform with Antibiofilm and Self-Powering Functionalities for Biomedical Applications, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c11791
also: Moonchul Park et al, Human Oral Motion‐Powered Smart Dental Implant (SDI) for In Situ Ambulatory Photo‐biomodulation Therapy, Advanced Healthcare Materials (2020). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202000658
New technique uses the body's naturally occurring ions to help transmit data wirelessly
Apr 2022, phys.org
Their experiments revealed their ionic communication device proved thousands to millions of times more energy-efficient at communicating data than other approaches used with implantable bioelectronics.
via Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science: Zifang Zhao et al, Ionic communication for implantable bioelectronics, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm7851
3D printing smart clothes with a new liquid metal-alginate ink
Apr 2022, phys.org
A conductive 3D printing ink made of liquid metal droplets coated with alginate, a polymer derived from algae.The LM-alginate ink can be recycled by soaking the fabric in a weak sodium hydroxide solution, recovering fresh liquid metal for new applications.
via American Chemical Society, State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems and 3D Printing Process, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China: Pengcheng Wu et al, Liquid Metal Microgels for Three-Dimensional Printing of Smart Electronic Clothes, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c22975
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Image credit: Larry Goeb - Back to Basics - Flickr |
Tech experts create wearable material that can generate electricity by capturing energy from body movements
Apr 2022, phys.org
New, scalable manufacturing technique to create wearable fabrics embedded with very small power generators known as "Triboelectric Nanogenerators" (TENGs).Can turn common textile materials into "energy-generating textiles" using established methods such as yarn coating, dip coating, and screen-printing to apply triboelectrically active solutions.Produce electricity to operate low-power electronics using our natural body movements.TENG devices collect static charges, like those that make a balloon stick to a wall when rubbed against a jumper, or those that give a sudden shock when you step on a carpet.
via University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) and Loughborough University: K. R. Sanjaya Gunawardhana et al, Scalable Textile Manufacturing Methods for Fabricating Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Balanced Electrical and Wearable Properties, ACS Applied Electronic Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsaelm.1c01095
Future wearable health tech could measure gases released from skin
Apr 2022, phys.org
"Discerning health issues through the skin is really the ultimate frontier"
via Ohio State University: Anthony Annerino et al, Towards skin-acetone monitors with selective sensitivity: Dynamics of PANI-CA films, PLOS ONE (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267311
Sweat sensor makes strides in detecting infection indicators
May 2022, phys.org
The sweat sensor can identify the biomarkers interferon-gamma-inducible protein (IP-10) and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which indicate what is known as a cytokine storm.
via University of Texas at Dallas: Badrinath Jagannath et al, Novel Approach to Track the Lifecycle of Inflammation from Chemokine Expression to Inflammatory Proteins in Sweat Using Electrochemical Biosensor, Advanced Materials Technologies (2022). DOI: 10.1002/admt.202101356
Scientists create tattoo-like sensors that reveal blood oxygen levels
May 2022, phys.org
Silk-based material, called fibroin, placed under the skin that glows brighter or dimmer under a lamp when exposed to different levels of oxygen in the blood.Can be adjusted to create a structure that lasts under the skin from a few weeks to over a year.
via Tufts University: Thomas Falcucci et al, Degradable Silk‐Based Subcutaneous Oxygen Sensors, Advanced Functional Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202202020
Multi-tasking wearable continuously monitors glucose, alcohol, and lactate
May 2022, phys.org
The wearable consists of a microneedle patch connected to a case of electronics. Different enzymes on the tips of the microneedles react with glucose, alcohol and lactate in interstitial fluid. These reactions generate small electric currents, which are analyzed by electronic sensors and communicated wirelessly to an app that the researchers developed. The results are displayed in real time on a smartphone.The device is about the size of a stack of six quarters. It is applied to the skin through a Velcro-like patch of microscopic needles, or microneedles, that are each about one-fifth the width of a human hair. Wearing the device is not painful—the microneedles barely penetrate the surface of the skin to sense biomolecules in interstitial fluid, which is the fluid surrounding the cells beneath the skin. The device can be worn on the upper arm and sends data wirelessly to a custom smartphone app."With our wearable, people can see the interplay between their glucose spikes or dips with their diet, exercise and drinking of alcoholic beverages."
via University of California - San Diego: Patrick Mercier, An integrated wearable microneedle array for the continuous monitoring of multiple biomarkers in interstitial fluid, Nature Biomedical Engineering (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-022-00887-1
