Communications of the ACM
New Electronic Display Is 10 Times Thinner Than Human Skin
The new e-skin can be fitted with electronic components for health-monitoring and information technologies that alleviate stress and discomfort associated with more traditional health monitors.
Credit: April Montgomery/University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo researchers have developed a thin-film electronic display that is a magnitude of order thinner than human skin, so it can be laminated onto a person's body without the wearer knowing it is there.
The "e-skin" was developed using an organic light-emitting diode (LED) display, and it can be fitted with electronic components for health monitoring and information technologies that alleviate stress and discomfort associated with more traditional health monitors. The e-skin also could be used in industrial applications, where it is important to fabricate devices using processing methods that maximize throughput and minimize cost.
The e-skin display contains polymer LEDs that display three colors and organic photo detectors, or optoelectronic sensors, which measure light and provide multiple electronic functions, such as monitoring blood oxygen levels and displaying them on the surface of skin.
"The combination of different types of organic devices on an ultrathin film is crucial to realizing multiple electronic functions on the surface of the skin using organic ultrathin-film devices for smart wearable and medical systems," according to the researchers.
During testing, the researchers were able to wire the e-skin display using transparent indium tin oxide electrodes to an ultrathin substrate without damaging it, making the e-skin display possible.
From Computerworld
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2016 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found