Tag Archives: Ying-Chen Chen

An easier and cheaper way to make: wearable and disposable medical tattoolike patches

A Sept. 29, 2015 news item on ScienceDaily features an electronic health patch that’s cheaper and easier to make,

A team of researchers has invented a method for producing inexpensive and high-performing wearable patches that can continuously monitor the body’s vital signs for human health and performance tracking. The researchers believe their new method is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing.

The researchers have provided a photograph of a prototype patch,

Assitant professor Nanshu Lu and her team have developed a faster, inexpensive method for making epidermal electronics. Cockrell School of Engineering

Assitant professor Nanshu Lu and her team have developed a faster, inexpensive method for making epidermal electronics. Cockrell School of Engineering

A University of Texas at Austin Sept. 29, 2015 news release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more details,

Led by Assistant Professor Nanshu Lu, the team’s manufacturing method aims to construct disposable tattoo-like health monitoring patches for the mass production of epidermal electronics, a popular technology that Lu helped develop in 2011.

The team’s breakthrough is a repeatable “cut-and-paste” method that cuts manufacturing time from several days to only 20 minutes. The researchers believe their new method is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing — an existing method for creating devices in bulk using a roll of flexible plastic and a processing machine.

Reliable, ultrathin wearable electronic devices that stick to the skin like a temporary tattoo are a relatively new innovation. These devices have the ability to pick up and transmit the human body’s vital signals, tracking heart rate, hydration level, muscle movement, temperature and brain activity.

Although it is a promising invention, a lengthy, tedious and costly production process has until now hampered these wearables’ potential.

“One of the most attractive aspects of epidermal electronics is their ability to be disposable,” Lu said. “If you can make them inexpensively, say for $1, then more people will be able to use them more frequently. This will open the door for a number of mobile medical applications and beyond.”

The UT Austin method is the first dry and portable process for producing these electronics, which, unlike the current method, does not require a clean room, wafers and other expensive resources and equipment. Instead, the technique relies on freeform manufacturing, which is similar in scope to 3-D printing but different in that material is removed instead of added.

The two-step process starts with inexpensive, pre-fabricated, industrial-quality metal deposited on polymer sheets. First, an electronic mechanical cutter is used to form patterns on the metal-polymer sheets. Second, after removing excessive areas, the electronics are printed onto any polymer adhesives, including temporary tattoo films. The cutter is programmable so the size of the patch and pattern can be easily customized.

Deji Akinwande, an associate professor and materials expert in the Cockrell School, believes Lu’s method can be transferred to roll-to-roll manufacturing.

“These initial prototype patches can be adapted to roll-to-roll manufacturing that can reduce the cost significantly for mass production,” Akinwande said. “In this light, Lu’s invention represents a major advancement for the mobile health industry.”

After producing the cut-and-pasted patches, the researchers tested them as part of their study. In each test, the researchers’ newly fabricated patches picked up body signals that were stronger than those taken by existing medical devices, including an ECG/EKG, a tool used to assess the electrical and muscular function of the heart. The team also found that their patch conforms almost perfectly to the skin, minimizing motion-induced false signals or errors.

The UT Austin wearable patches are so sensitive that Lu and her team can envision humans wearing the patches to more easily maneuver a prosthetic hand or limb using muscle signals. For now, Lu said, “We are trying to add more types of sensors including blood pressure and oxygen saturation monitors to the low-cost patch.”

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

“Cut-and-Paste” Manufacture of Multiparametric Epidermal Sensor Systems by Shixuan Yang, Ying-Chen Chen, Luke Nicolini, Praveenkumar Pasupathy, Jacob Sacks, Su Becky, Russell Yang, Sanchez Daniel, Yao-Feng Chang, Pulin Wang, David Schnyer, Dean Neikirk, and Nanshu Lu. Advanced Materials DOI: 10.1002/adma.201502386 First published: 23 September 2015

This paper is behind a paywall.