What if doctors could monitor your heart or detect if someone was going to have a seizure through a small electronic patch applied to the skin?
How about an electronic patch that could sense muscle fatigue when exercising or be implanted inside an organ to make sure it was functioning correctly?
This may sound like a futuristic idea, but in reality, those health-monitoring patches are closer to being available then you think.
John Rogers, Ph.D and his engineering colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed such an electronic skin patch, which they reported on at the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society in March 2012.
The electronic patches are similar to the silicon-based wafers that are found in smart phones or laptops but those types of chips are hard and brittle. The challenge in making the skin patches was to construct them to be flexible enough to tolerate the natural movement of skin so they would bend and stretch. These electronic chips instead are made using a wavy pattern.
The skin patches can be placed on the skin the same way a temporary tattoo is, using water and a backing that peels off. The patches are thin, about the thickness of a human hair and the wearers do not feel them once attached.
A spray on bandage is then applied over the electronic patch to protect the circuits from water and normal wear and tear. This allows the skin patch to remain protected for up to a week and even withstand showering with soapy water.
"A key feature of our epidermal electronics is its natural interface to the body, without wires, pins, adhesives or gels, to allow a much more comfortable and functional system," said Rogers. "The technology can be used to monitor brain, heart or muscle activity in a completely noninvasive way, while a patient is at home."
In the earlier models, the electronic patch could only send messages one way to report health measurements. Further development and animal testing has allowed the researchers to give the devices two-way capabilities.
The prototype electronic patches now have the ability to gather and transmit information such as muscle movement. They also deliver electronic shocks to stimulate a muscle to contract, which could help patients needing rehabilitation after an accident.
There are plans to add Wi-Fi capability to the electronic patches so that they can send information via a cell phone directly to a patient’s physician.
Rogers says the size of the electronic patches could offer benefits in many important cases, such as monitoring the health and wellness of premature babies. "They are such tiny humans that this epidermal form of electronics could really be valuable in the monitoring of these babies in a manner that is completely noninvasive and mechanically 'invisible'," he points out. (2)
These electronic skin patches continue to be in the development stage but Rogers “hopes elastic electronics will open a door to a whole range of what he calls 'bio-integrated' medical devices.”
Sources:
1. New 'electronic skin' patches monitor health wirelessly. Phys.Org.
March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
http://phys.org/news/2012-03-electronic-skin-patches-health-wirelessly.html
2. Electronic tattoo monitors brain, heart and muscles (w/ video). Phys.Org.
January 30, 2012 . Retrieved April 10, 2012.
http://phys.org/news/2012-01-electronic-tattoo-brain-heart-muscles.html
Michele is an R.N. freelance writer with a special interest in woman’s healthcare and quality of care issues. Other articles by Michele are at www.helium.com/users/487540/show_articles
Edited by Jody Smith