From the research lab that brought us stick-on electronic tattoos, and recently the stretchable battery, we now have the first electronic sensor that has been printed directly onto human skin. These sensors can directly measure skin hydration and temperature, and electric signals from muscle and brain activity.
The skin-printable sensors, created by the Rogers research group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are a natural evolution of the lab’s electronic tattoos. The electronic tattoos are circuits that are affixed to an elastic polymer backing, which is then stuck to the skin (pictured above). Like temporary tattoos, though, these electronic tattoos are easily washed off in the shower or swimming pool, making them unsuitable for extended use. Now, by removing the polymer backing and printing the sensor directly onto the skin, the researchers have made a device that is one thirtieth as thick and better at conforming to the natural bumpiness of skin. ”What we’ve found is that you don’t even need the elastomer backing,” John Rogers tells
Technology Review. “You can use a rubber stamp to just deliver the ultrathin mesh electronics directly to the surface of the skin.”
