Electronic skin patches

This premium article covers the major launches and themes in the niche wearable technology product areas of skin patches and e-textiles. Despite the "consumer" focus of the event, much of the discussion and product launches of note focused around health and wellness applications, including products on both the consumer and medical side of the regulatory barriers. This article reviews some of the prominent announcements and companies present at this year's virtual event.

In this premium article IDTechEx discuss three exciting emerging applications of printed/flexible electronics, including multiple case studies.

An alternative to batteries, micro-supercapacitors are energy storage devices that can complement or replace lithium-ion batteries in wearable devices. Micro-supercapacitors have a small footprint, high power density, and the ability to charge and discharge quickly.

Wearable sensors are evolving from watches and electrodes to bendable devices that provide far more precise biometric measurements and comfort for users. Now, an international team of researchers has taken the evolution one step further by printing sensors directly on human skin without the use of heat.

High-speed low-power printed transistors could lead to new display technologies. Researchers have successfully printed and demonstrated organic transistors, electronic switches, which can operate close to their theoretical speed limits.

This article contains key reflections of the high-level discussions that took place during the congress and is structured by theme.

Researchers have developed electronic artificial skin that reacts to pain just like real skin, opening the way to better prosthetics, smarter robotics and non-invasive alternatives to skin grafts.

Solar cells can now be made so thin, light and flexible that they can rest on a soap bubble. The new cells, which efficiently capture energy from light, could offer an alternative way to power novel electronic devices, such as medical skin patches, where conventional energy sources are unsuitable.

Patients recovering from spinal cord injuries or who have mobility disorders related to spinal nerve compression are frequently treated by the conditioning of the Hoffmann's reflex via non-surgical electrostimulation therapy. To track the progress of the treatment, electromyography is used to record the amplitude of the patient's muscle twitch response.