by Researchers at City University of Hong Kong have developed super permeable wearable electronics that are lightweight, stretchable, and increase sweat permeability by 400-fold, allowing for reliable long-term monitoring of biosignals in biomedical devices.
The team, led by Professor Yu Xinge from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has introduced a groundbreaking method for creating these advanced wearable electronics, which address a significant challenge faced by wearable biomedical devices – sweat and air permeability. The research findings have been published in the journal Nature under the title “A three-dimensional liquid diode for soft, integrated permeable electronics.”
Wearable electronics are crucial for monitoring health and fitness, providing continuous tracking of physiological signals, early disease detection, personalized therapies, and better management of chronic health conditions over extended periods. However, the stability of long-term signals can be affected by issues related to sweat permeability.
To overcome this challenge, the team has developed an innovative approach that combines materials processing, device architecture, and system integration to create integrated permeable wearable electronics based on a nature-inspired three-dimensional liquid diode (3D LD) configuration. This design allows for superior breathability and exceptional sweat transport capabilities, ensuring seamless monitoring even in sweating conditions.
The device created by the team can efficiently transport sweat from the skin 4,000 times faster than the human body can produce it, preventing signal disruptions caused by sweat accumulation at the device-skin interface. Moreover, its thin, lightweight, soft, and stretchable features make it comfortable to wear and maintain a stable interface with the skin, ensuring high-quality signals.
Professor Yu emphasized the significance of their findings in revolutionizing soft, permeable wearables and their successful application in both advanced skin-integrated electronics and textile-integrated electronics. The team is now moving towards clinical trials to validate the effectiveness of their technology in real-world settings.
Overall, the development of super permeable wearable electronics opens up new possibilities for stable and long-term biosignal monitoring, offering a promising solution for enhancing healthcare monitoring capabilities in the future.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
