Sensors & Test

A Smartwatch-Based System Detects Heat Strain

A new device from Lincoln Laboratory can now alert trainees when they are heading toward injury. The device continuously estimates a person’s core body temperature to determine their risk level...

Polymer Mixture Creates Ultra-Sensitive Heat Sensor

An ultra-sensitive heat sensor was developed that is based on the fact that certain materials are thermoelectric. The electrons in a thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm...

Material for the Next Generation of Smart Sensors

Scientists have developed color-changing, flexible photonic crystals that could be used to develop sensors that warn when an earthquake might strike next. The wearable, robust, and low-cost...

Bimodal “Electronic Skin”

Through the use of magnetic fields, scientists have developed an electronic sensor that can simultaneously process both touchless and tactile stimuli. Prior attempts have so far failed to combine these functions on...

Detecting Health Markers in Thread-Based, Wearable Sweat Sensors

Engineers have created a flexible electronic sensing patch that can be sewn into clothing to analyze sweat for multiple markers. The patch could be used to diagnose and monitor...

Liquid Metal Wearable Pressure Sensor

Soft pressure sensors have received significant research attention in a variety of fields including soft robotics, electronic skin, and wearable electronics. Researchers have developed a highly sensitive...

Portable Device Detects Foodborne Illness

Foodborne illness hits about one in six people in the United States every year from more than 31 recognized pathogens including E. coli O157:H7, a particularly harsh strain of E. coli. Researchers...

Handheld Measuring Device Distinguishes Between Methanol and Potable Alcohol

Methanol is sometimes referred to as ethanol's deadly twin. While the latter is the intoxicating ingredient in wine, beer, and liquor, the former is a chemical that...

Method Measures Temperature Within 3D Objects

Engineers have remotely determined the temperature beneath the surface of certain materials using a new technique called depth thermography. The method may be useful in applications where...

Rapid Agent Aerosol Detector for Biological Agents

Any space, enclosed or open, can be vulnerable to the dispersal of harmful airborne biological agents. Silent and near-invisible, these bioagents can sicken or kill living things before steps...

Electronic Skin Powered by Sweat Serves as Human-Machine Interface

Researchers have developed electronic skin (e-skin) that is applied directly on top of real skin. Made from soft, flexible rubber, it can be embedded with sensors that monitor...

Graphene Made with Lasers for Wearable Health Devices

Graphene — hexagonally arranged carbon atoms in a single layer with superior pliability and high conductivity — could impact the development of future motion detection, tactile sensing,...

Soft Sensing, Self-Healing Materials for Robotic Hands and Arms

These materials can detect when they are damaged, take the necessary steps to temporarily heal themselves, and then resume work.

Novel Biosensors Set to Revolutionize Brain-Controlled Robotics

A carbon-based biosensor could drive new innovations in brain-controlled robotics.

Tin Electrode Amplifies Supercapacitors

The material improves connectivity while maintaining recyclability and low cost.

Fast-Acting Molecular Probe

A reversible polymer changes color when it senses a material is about to fail.

Electronic Skin Reacts to Pain

Artificial skin reacts to pain just like real skin, paving the way to better prosthetics, robotics, and noninvasive alternatives to skin grafts.

Sensors Driven by Machine Learning Sniff Out Gas Leaks

The ALFaLDS detection tool supports oil plants.

Ultra-Sensitive, Resilient Sensor for Smart Textiles

The Slinky-like sensor survives washing machines, cars, and hammers.

Sensors Integrated in Clothing Monitor Heart Rate

The device ultimately should be able to provide accurate signals from a person who is walking, running, or climbing stairs.

Wearable Gas Sensor for Health and Environmental Monitoring

Applications include detection of chemical and biological agents as well as dangerous gases from vehicle emissions.

Miniaturized, Wireless Oxygen Sensor for Sick Infants

The mobile, wearable device could allow babies to leave the hospital and be monitored from home.

An Innovative Imaging Technique for Dynamic Optical Nanothermometry

A new imaging technique measures temperature in 2D.

Wireless Smart Contact Lenses Detect Disease

These smart lenses can be used to diagnose and treat diabetes.

Material Detects COVID-19 Quickly and Accurately

Potential applications for a graphene atomic-level sensor include detecting COVID, ALS, and cancer.

Tool Calculates Materials’ Stress and Strain Based on Photos

The advance could accelerate engineers’ design process by eliminating the need to solve complex equations.

Soft Sensor Boosts Fingertip Sensitivity for Robots

A haptic thumb-shaped sensor uses machine learning to accurately estimate where objects come into contact with the sensor and how large the applied forces are.

NIST Improves the Ability of Optical Microscopes to Measure the Volume of Microdroplets

For the first time, a team has measured the volume of individual droplets smaller than 100 trillionths of a liter, with an uncertainty of less than 1%.

New Device Modulates Visible Light with the Smallest Footprint and Lowest Power Consumption

Columbia researchers are reducing both the size and the power consumption of a visible-spectrum phase modulator, from one millimeter to 10 microns.