MIT creates an intelligent skin anti-perspiration skin that can lead to portable monitors
MIT researchers have developed a new anti-perspiration material that they call “electronic skin”. The new material is described as a comfortable sticky well to wear, capable of monitoring the health of the wearer without deforming or peeling the body, even if the person is sweating. The patch can maintain contact with the body even by transpirating, thanks to artificial sweat channels similar to the pores of the human skin that have been engraved in the ultra -ine layers of the material.
The pores engraved in the patch have a kirigami pattern similar to that of the Japanese paper cutting art. The chains guarantee that sweat can escape through the patch preventing skin irritation and damage to integrated sensors inside. The design also makes the patch consistent with human skin, which allows it to stretch and comply.
It is the flexibility of new materials and its ability to resist sweat that allows it to monitor the health of the wearer over long periods. The ability to monitor over long periods was not possible with previous electronic skin designs. MIT researchers believe that their progress is a step towards sustainable smart skins that can track daily vitals or the progression of skin cancer and other conditions.
Professor MIT Mechanical Engineering Associate, Jeehwan Kim says that the patch will not promote sweat accumulation and provide erroneous information or detach from the skin, allowing portable sensors that can perform long-term monitoring constant. The engineering group that manufactured the new portable sensor specializes in the manufacture of flexible semiconductor films.
The team has a technique called remote epitaxy, which consists of developing ultra-high quality ultra-ultra-high quality semiconductor films on platelets at high temperatures, and selectively peel movies. These thin films can then be combined and stacked to form much thinner and more flexible sensors than the designs based on the classic wafer.
The key to their breakthrough in the fight against sweat increased the strength and flexibility of the hole pattern by cutting thin canals between each hole, thus creating a dumbbell repetition pattern rather than simple holes. This relaxed trend of the pattern rather than concentrating it in a place, allowing him to conform and transmit an escape.