University of Tokyo

Ultra-soft electronics to monitor dynamically pulsing cardiomyocytes

In biointegrated electronics, the facile control of mechanical properties such as softness and stretchability in electronic devices is necessary to minimize the perturbation of motions inherent in biological systems.

Xenoma

IDTechEx caught up with Ryohei Konishi, Business Producer at Xenoma at their booth at CES 2019. They were demonstrating several new products since IDTechEx first met with them a year earlier at CES 2018.

Power cut: Wireless charger you can cut to shape

Researchers have developed a new system to charge electronic devices such as smartphones and smartwatches wirelessly. The method involves a cuttable, flexible power transfer sheet which charges devices wirelessly and can be molded or even cut with scissors to fit different-shaped surfaces and objects.

Don't go breaking my heart

For the first time, engineers have demonstrated an electronic device to closely monitor beating heart cells without affecting their behavior.

Can an "impossible object" be 3D printed, even impossibly small?

The answer is: Yes, if you take an impossible object design and combine it with micro 3d printing technology. A metallic impossible object at the size of a red blood cell is born.

Strong and self-healing ion gels

Scientists have designed an ion gel with excellent toughness and an ability to self-heal at ambient temperature without any external trigger or detectable change in the environment such as light or temperature. This new class of material has promising potential for building flexible electronic devices.

A self-powered heart monitor taped to the skin

Scientists have developed a human-friendly, ultra-flexible organic sensor powered by sunlight, which acts as a self-powered heart monitor.

Machine learning tool makes car designs more aerodynamic

When engineers or designers want to test the aerodynamic properties of the newly designed shape of a car, airplane, or other object, they would normally model the flow of air around the object by having a computer solve a complex set of equations--a procedure that usually takes hours or even an entire day.

Cyborgs are coming: Improved integration of living muscles into robots

The new field of biohybrid robotics involves the use of living tissue within robots, rather than just metal and plastic. Muscle is one potential key component of such robots, providing the driving force for movement and function. However, in efforts to integrate living muscle into these machines, there have been problems with the force these muscles can exert and the amount of time before they start to shrink and lose their function.

Cell membrane inspires new ultrathin electronic film

Japanese researchers have developed a new method to build large areas of semiconductive material that is just two molecules thick and a total of 4.4 nanometers tall. The films function as thin film transistors, and have potential future applications in flexible electronics or chemical detectors.

Ultrathin, highly elastic skin display

A new ultrathin, elastic display that fits snugly on the skin can show the moving waveform of an electrocardiogram recorded by a breathable, on-skin electrode sensor. Combined with a wireless communication module, this integrated biomedical sensor system - called "skin electronics" - can transmit biometric data to the cloud.

Xenoma

Xenoma is a spin-off from the University of Tokyo (work from Prof. Someya's lab) that has developed e-Skin, a smart apparel product containing sensors for measuring body motion.