New Wearable Communication System Can Transmit Data Farther than Wi-Fi

A group of University of Arizona researchers has developed a wearable monitoring device system that can send health data up to 15 miles without any significant infrastructure. Their device, they hope, will help make digital health access more equitable. Read on to learn more.

Silicone Membrane for Wearable Devices is Comfortable and Breathable

A silicone membrane for wearable devices is more comfortable and breathable thanks to better-sized pores made with the help of citric acid crystals. The new preparation technique fabricates thin, silicone-based patches that rapidly wick water away from the skin. The technique could reduce the redness and itching caused by wearable biosensors that trap sweat beneath them. Read on to learn more.

Future Washable Smart Clothes Powered by Wi-Fi will Monitor Health

Purdue University engineers have developed a method to transform existing cloth items into battery-free wearables resistant to laundering. These smart clothes are powered wirelessly through a flexible, silk-based coil sewn on the textile. Read on to learn more.

Stretchable, Flexible Biofuel Cell Runs on Sweat

A flexible and stretchable cell has been developed for wearable electronic devices that require a reliable and efficient energy source that can easily be integrated into the human body. Read on to learn more about it.

Wearable Solar Concentrators

The novel solar concentrators can be applied to textile fibers without the textile becoming brittle and susceptible to cracking or accumulating water vapor in the form of sweat. Read on to learn more.

Battery Analysis Pioneer: North America Has Five Years to Catch China

North American automakers and EV battery firms have five years to erase China’s dominance in technology and manufacturing or they may face the reality of buying...

5Ws of the Smart Mask

Caltech engineers have developed a prototype for a high-tech paper mask that can be used to monitor a range of metabolic and respiratory conditions.

Wearable, Stretchable Sensor for Detection of Solid-State Skin Biomarkers

Detecting diseases early requires the rapid, continuous, and convenient monitoring of vital biomarkers. Researchers have developed a novel sensor that enables the continuous, real-time detection of solid-state epidermal biomarkers. Read on to learn more.

Smaller Skin-Like Stretchable Electronics for Wearables

Researchers at Stanford have been working on skin-like, stretchable electronic devices for over a decade. Recently, they presented a new design and fabrication process for skin-like integrated circuits that are five times smaller and operate at one thousand times higher speeds than earlier versions. Read on to learn more about it.

Molecular Highway for Electrons in OLEDs

Now, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a new material concept that could allow efficient blue OLEDs with a strongly simplified structure. Read on to learn more.

Rapidly Testing Stretchable Sensors

Engineers have developed a new technique for making wearable sensors that enables medical researchers to prototype and test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods. Read on to learn more.

Wearable Sensors Detect Pathogens, Toxins

Researchers have developed a method to detect bacteria, toxins, and dangerous chemicals in the environment with a biopolymer sensor that can be printed like ink on a wide range of materials — including wearables. Read on to learn more.

3D-Printing Flexible Devices without Mechanical Joints

Eva Baur, a Ph.D. student, used 3D-printed double network granular elastomers (DNGEs) to print a prototype ‘finger,’ complete with rigid ‘bones’ surrounded by flexible ‘flesh.’ The finger was printed to deform in a pre-defined way, demonstrating the technology’s potential to manufacture devices that are sufficiently supple to bend and stretch, while remaining firm enough to manipulate objects. Read on to learn more.

Developing Safer Batteries with Solid-State Polymer Electrolytes

A 100 percent solid-state, high-performance polymer electrolyte addresses issues with liquid electrolytes for safer battery cell designs. Read this article to learn more.

Low-Voltage, Low-Power Pressure Sensors for Monitoring Health

Researchers have found ways to develop soft OECTs for wearable pressure sensors. They first experimented with a solid type of gating substance: a charged, gelatinous substance called an ionic hydrogel. Read on to learn more.

An Efficient and Cost-Effective Solution for Battery Recycling

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have improved on approaches that dissolve a battery in a liquid solution in order to reduce the amount of hazardous chemicals used in the process.

E-Health Patches Monitor Pulse and Blood Pressure

An international team of researchers from Japan and Austria has invented new ultraflexible patches with a ferroelectric polymer that can not only sense a patient’s pulse and blood pressure, but also power themselves from normal movements. The key was starting with a substrate just 1-μm thick.

Screen-Printed Sensors Allow Earbuds to Record Brain Activity and Exercise Levels

A pair of earbuds can be turned into a tool to record the electrical activity of the brain as well as levels of lactate in the body with the addition of two flexible sensors screen-printed onto a stamp-like flexible surface.

An Affordable, Sustainable Solution for Flat-Panel Displays and Wearable Tech

A research team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed “supramolecular ink,” a new technology for use in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays or other electronic devices.

A Thermoelectric Cooler to Restore Sensation in Amputees

This advancement, one of the first of its kind, enables a useful new capability for a variety of applications, including improved prostheses, haptics for new modalities in augmented reality (AR), and thermally modulated therapeutics for applications such as pain management. The technology also has a variety of potential industrial and research applications.

Light-Harnessing Sensors Give Hope to Limited-Mobility Patients

A research team has successfully overcome the limitations of soft strain sensors by integrating computer vision technology into optical sensors. The team developed a sensor technology known as computer vision-based optical strain (CVOS) during its study. Unlike conventional sensors reliant on electrical signals, CVOS sensors employ computer vision and optical sensors to analyze microscale optical patterns, extracting data regarding changes.

Wearable Health Sensor for Monitoring Muscle Atrophy

Researchers at The Ohio State University have fabricated the first wearable sensor designed to detect and monitor muscle atrophy. This new study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering suggests that an electromagnetic sensor made out of conductive “e-threads” could be used as an alternative to frequent monitoring using MRI.

Stretchable Micro-Supercapacitors to Self-Power Wearable Devices

A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international team of researchers.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest LED And Holographic Microscope

Researchers have developed the world’s smallest LED. It enables the conversion of existing mobile phone cameras into high-resolution microscopes. Smaller than the wavelength of light, the new LED was used to build the world’s smallest holographic microscope.

New Blue Light Technique Could Enable Advances in Understanding Nanoscale Technologies

With a new microscopy technique that uses blue light to measure electrons in semiconductors and other nanoscale materials, a team of researchers is opening a new realm of possibilities in the study of these critical components, which can help power devices like mobile phones and laptops.

Fully Stretchable Fabric-Based Lithium-Ion Battery

The future of wearable technology just got a big boost thanks to a team of University of Houston researchers who designed, developed, and delivered a successful prototype of a fully stretchable fabric-based lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery.

SkinKit Offers Versatile, Wearable On-Skin Computing

The next generation of wearable computing technology will be even closer to the wearer than a watch or glasses: It will be affixed to the skin.