The research has come from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the aim was produce something to take readings of vital signs accurately, but also something which is non-toxic. The new approach does not require the use of chemicals.
Another key part of the design brief is with a device that is sufficiently flexible to be worn with comfort, either outside or even inside the human body.
While there are many wearables on the market that capture health information these are not sufficiently accurate for capturing data used for medical readings, especially if the aim is to tailor personalized medicines or health plans for individual people. This new generation of devices aim to track such complexities as fluctuations in the amount of potassium in sweat to the level of particular sugars or proteins in the bloodstream.
For the basis of the device, gold is seen as a good substrate because it does not corrode and it is non-toxic. However, because gold can break easily it needs to be strengthened through the addition of plastics. To aid this, the science of microfluidics was used. This led to the development of a porous polyester membrane with tiny holes to allow for different fluids to be separated out. When twisted, the pores in the structure still allow electricity to be conducted (an effect that would not take place with the holes present.)
In tests the new membrane and electrodes show better conductivity compared with material on solid surfaces, and thus provide the basis for a new, more advanced series of electronic wearable devices for the medical field. In a research brief, lead engineer Dr. Darwin Reyes-Hernandez enthuses: “overall this could be a major step in wearable sensor research.”
The findings are published in the journal Advanced Engineering Materials. The paper is headed “Flexible Thin-Film Electrodes on Porous Polyester Membranes for Wearable Sensors.”
