Electronic skin patches have risen in popularity alongside the meteoric rise in interest around wearable devices peaking in 2014. However, the interest in the area has it's own grounding, with several skin patch product areas experiencing significant growth and becoming markets worth billions of dollars each year.
This masterclass will cover the types of electronic skin patch which are in the market today, the technology behind them, and the future prospects for these devices within each of the markets they address. As a diverse product sector unified only by how they are worn, the picture involves a diverse landscape of different devices, markets and players.
For example, the two largest markets for electronic skin patches today are in cardiac monitoring and in diabetes management. This masterclass will discuss details of the skin patch products sold today, but also the wider device ecosystem within which they compete. This trend applies across each market sector for electronic skin patches; it is never the case that skin patches are the only possible product to address a certain market need, so in each case, understanding of the underlying market dynamic is required when discussing the prospects of the skin patch product.
Beyond diabetes management and cardiovascular options, this session will explore options for electronic skin patch products in a variety of other markets. This includes examples of their use in medical patient monitoring (both inpatient and outpatient), motion sensing, temperature sensing (e.g. fever monitoring, fertility tracking, etc.), drug and cosmetic delivery patches, smart bandages for wound care and more.
This masterclass will also deliver background information on the technology behind the products today. In order to make skin patches, the devices must have some degree of interface between usually rigid electronics and the flexible, stretchable human skin. As such, many companies with component and material options for stretchable and conformal electronics are exploring this product area. The masterclass will discuss some of these options and their progress.
On the technology side, most of the existing products leverage the components that have been developed over the years for the mobile phone industry. However, there are exciting new technologies coming up, from flexible displays to biometric sensors. This session will introduce the new materials and technologies that will enable future wearable devices.