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Graphene-based patch can help monitor blood sugar levels
This see-through patch made of graphene and studded with gold isn't just a fashion accessory or temporary tattoo. It has the capability to monitor your blood sugar levels and deliver diabetes medication. The prototype, designed by Seoul National University assistant professor Dae-Hyeong Kim and a team of researchers, has sensors that can detect your temperature and the pH/chemical composition of your sweat. It then beams the data it collects to an accompanying smartphone app. If the system infers that you need medicine based on the state of your sweat, the app computes for the amount of medication (metformin for type II diabetes) you need. The patch's microneedle array then injects the right amount into your body.
Temp tech tattoos can monitor your health and location
Chaotic Moon, a start-up known for conjuring fun projects like a shark-punching virtual game, has a wide range of applications in mind for the temporary tattoo technology it's developing. Called "Tech Tats," they're quite literally stick-on tattoos that look a bit embossed against the skin, since they contain electronic components, including a microcontroller and LED lights. Company CEO Ben Lamm called them "the new wearable" during his TechCrunch interview, pointing out that they can be a slightly more permanent version of Fitbit and other fitness trackers. They can, for instance, detect if you're stressed, monitor your body temp, blood pressure and heart rate, and then transmit all those data through their electroconductive paint.
'AmpStrip' heart rate wearable drops athletes to focus on health
A while back we were introduced to AmpStrip: an innovative wearable that contains a thermometer, accelerometer and heart rate sensor, all packed into a barely-there Band-Aid-like strip. From what we saw at CES 2015, it was all set to swoop in and revolutionize how we look at wearables, with its practicality and ease of use unlike anything available to date. However, the startup company FitLinxx announced today that it has discontinued the product as a fitness tracker available to the public and will instead focus on the product's potential medical applications.
Tattoo-like electronic health patches are now easy to make
However much you like the idea of a wearable electronic patch monitoring (or improving) your health, it's not all that practical. Making just one patch using current tech can take days, and you'd better believe that the result will be expensive. University of Texas researchers may have licked this problem, though. They've developed a "cut-and-paste" manufacturing method for tattoo-like patches that whittles the assembly time down to 20 minutes, and should reduce the cost in the process. The technique involves little more than cutting shapes out of metal placed on polymer sheets, and then printing the electronics on to polymer adhesives. Effectively, it's 3D printing in reverse -- you're taking material away until you get the design you want.
The power of tears: Why Google has its eye on smart contact lenses
When the cronut craze swept across New York in early spring of last year, the only major inconvenience associated with Dominique Ansel's novel culinary confection was the pain of waiting in line to get it. For a responsible person living with Type 1 (or Type 2) diabetes, like my good friend Cara, that wait time for a hip baked good would've been compounded by a few more irritating factors. First, there'd be a necessary finger prick test (administered in the open by an always on-hand glucometer) to measure blood sugar levels an hour before eating. Then, a guesstimate would need to be calculated of just how many carbs that precious SoHo sweet contained, followed by an adjustment of insulin delivery levels on a waist-worn pump. And, finally, a follow-up finger prick test would need to be done two hours after eating the cronut to once again establish a necessary insulin base line. That is true inconvenience. That is life with diabetes. And as you might imagine, not all diabetics are this disciplined. But Google wants to change that... with contact lenses.
Researchers print biometric sensors directly on skin, make wearable health monitors more durable
MC10 might be best known for its wearable electronics aimed at athletes, but the company also makes a medical diagnostic sticker called a biostamp. Its creator (and MC10 co-founder), John Rogers has refined that design so that it's no longer an elastomer sticker -- now he can apply the biostamp's thin, stretchy electronics directly on human skin, and bond it with commercially available spray-on bandage material. By losing the elastomer backing of the original biostamp and applying the circuits directly to the skin, Rogers and his team at the University of Illinois were able to shave the device's thickness to 1/30th of the (already quite thin) biostamp. That super thin profile means it conforms even better to the contours of human hide and makes it shower- and swim-proof during the two weeks it lasts before being naturally exfoliated with your skin. For those unfamiliar with what the biostamp does, it's a mesh of circuits and sensors that can record electrophysiological data like skin temperature and hydration state of the wearer. The new biostamp won't be in your doctor's tool box any time soon, however, as Rogers and his team are still refining the wireless power and communication technologies it leverages. Of course, once those problems are solved, there's a good chance we'll see MC10 turning it into a commercial product.
EES packs circuits into temporary tattoos, makes medical diagnostics fashionable
Flexible circuit pioneer John Rogers and his team are at it again. This time he's developing a wearable, ultra-thin circuit that attaches to your skin just like a temporary tattoo. The Epidermal Electronic System (EES) consists of circuits which could contain electrodes capable of measuring brain, heart and muscle activity in the same way an EEG does now, transmitting this data wirelessly to your doctor. Because it's flexible and bonds to the skin, it can be worn for extended periods, unlike traditional diagnostic pads used in hospitals today. In the lab, the devices were solar-powered with embedded photovoltaic cells -- heavier duty circuits would require inductive charging to be practical. Rogers' team also looked into the tech acting as a game controller (they wired it up to someone's throat and played Sokoban with voice commands, still managing to yield a 90 percent accuracy rate), but it's some way off from replacing your SIXAXIS. One of the problems encountered concerned RF communication -- perhaps they should get on the horn to their friends in Oregon and build those fashionable diagnostic pants we're eagerly waiting for.
