Wearable Technology

Mechanical engineers have built a handy extra limb able to grasp objects and go, powered only by compressed air. It's one of several ideas they've implemented with a textile-based energy harvesting system.

Saralon is an early-stage supplier of inks for printed electronics. This includes conductive, electroluminescent, electrochromic, adhesive, battery, sensors, heating element, and insulating inks. At LOPEC 2022 it has launched a copper conductive ink, curable in air. IDTechEx caught up with CEO Moazzam Ali to find out about the latest developments.

Cardiomo Care is a platform and skin patch for continuous ECG monitoring.

This premium article will look into the use of strain sensors in wearable electronics, exploring various applications, resistive strain sensors, examples from key market players, and more.

PKVitality are developing a non-invasive continuous glucose monitor using a microneedle-based skin patch and watch. Tess Skyrme, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, interviewed Minh Le, General Manager of the company, to get an update from the company.

Wearable sensors are ubiquitous thanks to wireless technology that enables a person's glucose concentrations, blood pressure, heart rate, and activity levels to be transmitted seamlessly from sensor to smartphone for further analysis. Most wireless sensors today communicate via embedded Bluetooth chips that are themselves powered by small batteries. But these conventional chips and power sources will likely be too bulky for next-generation sensors, which are taking on smaller, thinner, more flexible forms.

This interview with IDTechEx focused on recent progress with KEMET's flexible piezo actuator for surface haptics applications.

Flexible electronics have enabled the design of sensors, actuators, microfluidics and electronics on flexible, conformal and/or stretchable sublayers for wearable, implantable or ingestible applications. However, these devices have very different mechanical and biological properties when compared to human tissue and thus cannot be integrated with the human body.

Vivalink develop continuous wearable vital sign monitor devices and a platform for remote patient monitoring.

Imagine being able to generate electricity by harnessing moisture in the air around you with just everyday items like sea salt and a piece of fabric, or even powering everyday electronics with a non-toxic battery that is as thin as paper. A team of researchers has developed a new moisture-driven electricity generation device made of a thin layer of fabric - about 0.3 millimetres in thickness - sea salt, carbon ink, and a special water-absorbing gel.

If you have ever had your blood drawn, whether to check your cholesterol, kidney function, hormone levels, blood sugar, or as part of a general checkup, you might have wondered why there is not an easier, less painful way. Now there might be. A team of researchers has unveiled a new wearable sensor that can detect in human sweat even minute levels of many common nutrients and biological compounds that can serve as indicators of human health.

Kokoon has developed headphones and earbuds which are designed to improve the quality of users' sleep. Tess Skyrme, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, interviewed CTO Richard Hall.

This premium article looks into force and pressure sensors in wearable electronics, including printed pressure sensor applications, the wearable force sensor landscape, a SWOT analysis of flexible pressure sensors for wearable applications, and more.

This premium article will look into the manufacturing and materials involved in electronic skin patches, including an overview of skin patch construction, opportunities for roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing, case studies of contract manufacturers producing electronic skin patches, and more.

Researchers have discovered that they can control the stickiness of adhesive bandages using ultrasound waves and bubbles. This breakthrough could lead to new advances in medical adhesives, especially in cases where adhesives are difficult to apply such as on wet skin.

The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is opening a world-first immersive exhibition exploring the science of music's mysterious hold over us and how it drives us to create, perform, feel and share.

Seers Technology offers a medical platform and skin patch for cardiac monitoring.

Biobeat Technologies provide wearable devices for vital sign monitoring.

Wearable human-machine interface devices can be used to control machines, computers, music players, and other systems. A challenge for conventional human-machine interfaces is the presence of sweat on human skin. Scientists now describe their development of a type of human-machine interface that is stretchable, inexpensive, and waterproof. The device is based on a soft magnetoelastic sensor array that converts mechanical pressure from the press of a finger into an electrical signal.

Patients with severe respiratory or lung diseases require intensive treatment and their lung function needs to be monitored on a continuous basis. Researchers have developed a technology whereby noises in the lungs are recorded using a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors. The signals are then converted and displayed visually using software. In this way, patients outside of intensive care units can still be monitored continuously. The technology increases the options for diagnosis and improves the patient's quality of life.