Wearable Electronic Skin Could Monitor Your Health
Wearable Electronic Skin Could Monitor Your Health
Doctors could be tracking your vital signs via electronic skin worn on the body. Researchers in Japan say they have developed an ultra-thin, lightweight e-skin that is stuck to the chest area using water spray and can be worn for a week at a time.
The technology was developed by Takao Someya, a professor at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering. Although clinical trials have not yet begun, Someya says he has begun working with partners to develop manufacturing processes.
The e-skin is a wearable sensor made of a flexible material called polyvinyl alcohol and a layer of gold. It can detect signals such as heartbeat and electrical impulses caused by muscle movement.
A small wireless transmitter worn on the chest transmits heartbeat data to a nearby smartphone, laptop, or cloud, allowing a doctor to monitor it remotely.
"E-skin is the future of wearable technology," Someya tells CNN Business. "Today's mainstream wearables are bulky smart watches and glasses. In comparison, e-skin is extremely thin, light, stretchable, and durable."
Designed for older people
His most recent e-skin was created with the rapidly aging Japanese population in mind. Someya notes that for remote health care to be most effective, it is critical to monitor older people's health for extended periods of time with high precision. Due to its durability, he believes that the e-skin is an effective tool for monitoring chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart failure. Additionally, it may aid in the detection of early signs of illness.
Someya is also developing an LED display for the back of the user's hand in collaboration with Dai Nippon Printing (DNPCF). Designed for older people or those with who have difficulty using a smartphone, it will show heartbeat data transmitted by the e-skin in the form of large and easily understood graphics. Additionally, it can display simple emojis — such as a heart and a rainbow — sent by friends and relatives via a smartphone, allowing older adults to maintain contact with their loved ones.
The e-skin market was worth an estimated $4.5 billion in 2019, according to a report by Grand View Research. Because e-skin is extremely flexible and can sometimes self-repair, it has the potential to be used in robotics, prosthetics, and health care.
In the early 2000s, Someya and his team began developing e-skin for robots. Additionally, other research from their lab is being commercialized through two spin-off companies: Signtle, which focuses on medical applications, and Xenoma, which focuses on smart clothing.
E-skin for Athletes
Xenoma has integrated e-skin into pajamas that can monitor your body temperature while you sleep and sportswear that can track your fitness.
The startup has partnered with Mana Umehara, a Taekwondo practitioner, to investigate the potential benefits of e-skin for high-performance athletes. Its technology monitors her movements and transmits the data to a laptop, where it is visualized using software. Normally, this type of movement tracking requires multiple cameras, Someya explains.
Umehara was unable to train with her coach during the pandemic, but she was able to transmit data from her e-skin clothing, allowing her performance to be monitored remotely.
"Now I can receive more precise instructions with numerical values indicating how many centimeters to extend [my movement] or how powerful it should be," she tells CNN Business.
According to Someya, 5G will have a "significant impact" on wearable technologies, including e-skin, by increasing the amount of data that can be transmitted wirelessly at high speeds, providing users with real-time access to their health data.
"The ultimate goal of e-skin is to enable easy monitoring of all types of human data, anywhere and at any time, without interfering with daily activities," he says.
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