skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Soft Microfluidic Assemblies of Sensors, Circuits, and Radios for the Skin

Journal Article · · Science
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [5];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
  2. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
  3. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
  4. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China)
  5. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

When mounted on the skin, modern sensors, circuits, radios, and power supply systems have the potential to provide clinical-quality health monitoring capabilities for continuous use, beyond the confines of traditional hospital or laboratory facilities. The most well-developed component technologies are, however, broadly available only in hard, planar formats. As a result, existing options in system design are unable to effectively accommodate integration with the soft, textured, curvilinear, and time-dynamic surfaces of the skin. Here, we describe experimental and theoretical approaches for using ideas in soft microfluidics, structured adhesive surfaces, and controlled mechanical buckling to achieve ultralow modulus, highly stretchable systems that incorporate assemblies of high-modulus, rigid, state-of-the-art functional elements. Here, the outcome is a thin, conformable device technology that can softly laminate onto the surface of the skin to enable advanced, multifunctional operation for physiological monitoring in a wireless mode.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER46471
OSTI ID:
1876381
Journal Information:
Science, Vol. 344, Issue 6179; ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher:
AAASCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (29)

Design and Characterization of a Soft Multi-Axis Force Sensor Using Embedded Microfluidic Channels journal October 2013
A Sub-nW Multi-stage Temperature Compensated Timer for Ultra-Low-Power Sensor Nodes journal October 2013
Materials and Optimized Designs for Human-Machine Interfaces Via Epidermal Electronics journal September 2013
Self-Healing Stretchable Wires for Reconfigurable Circuit Wiring and 3D Microfluidics journal January 2013
Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors with microstructured rubber dielectric layers journal September 2010
Biomedical Stretchable Sytems using MID Based Stretchable Electronics Technology conference August 2007
Stretchable, Transparent, Ionic Conductors journal August 2013
Skin-like pressure and strain sensors based on transparent elastic films of carbon nanotubes journal October 2011
A Modular 1 mm$^{3}$ Die-Stacked Sensing Platform With Low Power I$^{2}$C Inter-Die Communication and Multi-Modal Energy Harvesting journal January 2013
Epidermal Electronics journal August 2011
Flexible polymer transistors with high pressure sensitivity for application in electronic skin and health monitoring journal May 2013
Controlled buckling of semiconductor nanoribbons for stretchable electronics journal December 2006
An ultra-lightweight design for imperceptible plastic electronics journal July 2013
A Trust-Based Framework for Fault-Tolerant Data Aggregation in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks journal November 2012
Synthesis, assembly and applications of semiconductor nanomembranes journal September 2011
Materials for stretchable electronics journal March 2012
Localization of Folds and Cracks in Thin Metal Films Coated on Flexible Elastomer Foams journal April 2013
A Battery-Free Multichannel Digital Neural/EMG Telemetry System for Flying Insects journal October 2012
Graphene-based wireless bacteria detection on tooth enamel journal January 2012
Stretchable organic integrated circuits for large-area electronic skin surfaces journal March 2012
Elastomeric substrates with embedded stiff platforms for stretchable electronics journal April 2013
User-interactive electronic skin for instantaneous pressure visualization journal July 2013
Design and implementation of flexible and stretchable systems journal June 2011
Stretchable Microfluidic Radiofrequency Antennas journal April 2010
High-resolution electroluminescent imaging of pressure distribution using a piezoelectric nanowire LED array journal August 2013
Stiff subcircuit islands of diamondlike carbon for stretchable electronics journal July 2006
Implantable RF Medical Devices: The Benefits of High-Speed Communication and Much Greater Communication Distances in Biomedical Applications journal June 2013
Midfield Wireless Powering of Subwavelength Autonomous Devices journal May 2013
Ultrathin, highly flexible and stretchable PLEDs journal July 2013

Cited By (123)

Stretchable sensors for environmental monitoring journal March 2019
A Stretchable Multicolor Display and Touch Interface Using Photopatterning and Transfer Printing journal September 2016
Materials and Structures toward Soft Electronics journal August 2018
Bioinspired Adhesive Architectures: From Skin Patch to Integrated Bioelectronics journal February 2019
Flexible corner cube retroreflector array for temperature and strain sensing journal January 2018
Crack-Configuration Analysis of Metal Conductive Track Embedded in Stretchable Elastomer journal March 2018
Printing Flexible and Hybrid Electronics for Human Skin and Eye‐Interfaced Health Monitoring Systems journal July 2019
A Stretchable-Hybrid Low-Power Monolithic ECG Patch with Microfluidic Liquid-Metal Interconnects and Stretchable Carbon-Black Nanocomposite Electrodes for Wearable Heart Monitoring journal October 2018
Flexible electronics under strain: a review of mechanical characterization and durability enhancement strategies journal December 2015
Interplay between materials and microfluidics journal April 2017
Microfluidics‐Based Biomaterials and Biodevices journal October 2018
Full Dynamic-Range Pressure Sensor Matrix Based on Optical and Electrical Dual-Mode Sensing journal January 2017
Epidermal electronics for noninvasive, wireless, quantitative assessment of ventricular shunt function in patients with hydrocephalus journal October 2018
Skin electronics from scalable fabrication of an intrinsically stretchable transistor array journal February 2018
Wireless body sensor networks based on metamaterial textiles journal June 2019
Nanomaterial-Based Soft Electronics for Healthcare Applications journal August 2016
Wearable and Implantable Devices for Cardiovascular Healthcare: from Monitoring to Therapy Based on Flexible and Stretchable Electronics journal February 2019
Conformal phased surfaces for wireless powering of bioelectronic microdevices journal March 2017
A Printed Organic Circuit System for Wearable Amperometric Electrochemical Sensors journal April 2018
Soft elastomeric composite materials with skin-inspired mechanical properties for stretchable electronic circuits journal January 2019
Thin, Transferred Layers of Silicon Dioxide and Silicon Nitride as Water and Ion Barriers for Implantable Flexible Electronic Systems journal June 2017
Stretchable conducting gold films prepared with composite MWNT/PDMS substrates journal October 2015
Microfluidic Organ/Body-on-a-Chip Devices at the Convergence of Biology and Microengineering journal December 2015
Graphene-based wearable sensors journal January 2019
An ultraflexible organic differential amplifier for recording electrocardiograms journal August 2019
Mechanics and thermal management of stretchable inorganic electronics journal November 2015
Design and Assembly of Reconfigurable 3D Radio‐Frequency Antennas Based on Mechanically Triggered Switches journal May 2019
Wearable red–green–blue quantum dot light-emitting diode array using high-resolution intaglio transfer printing journal May 2015
Conductive films based on sandwich structures of carbon nanotubes/silver nanowires for stretchable interconnects journal March 2019
Polyimide Encapsulation of Spider-Inspired Crack-Based Sensors for Durability Improvement journal March 2018
“Cut-and-Paste” Manufacture of Multiparametric Epidermal Sensor Systems journal September 2015
Ionic effects on the mechanical and swelling properties of a poly(acrylic acid/acrylamide) double crosslinking hydrogel journal January 2018
Fabrication of Soft Sensor Using Laser Processing Techniques: For the Alternative 3D Printing Process journal September 2019
MoO x /Au Schottky‐Gated Field‐Effect Transistors and Their Fast Inverters journal June 2019
Organic-Inorganic Solid-State Hybridization with High-Strength and Anti-Hydrolysis Interface journal January 2019
Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics journal June 2016
Disruptive, Soft, Wearable Sensors journal November 2019
Wireless, intraoral hybrid electronics for real-time quantification of sodium intake toward hypertension management journal May 2018
Magnetic assembly of transparent and conducting graphene-based functional composites journal June 2016
Toothed Substrate Design to Improve Stretchability of Serpentine Interconnect for Stretchable Electronics journal August 2018
Wearable Technology for Chronic Wound Monitoring: Current Dressings, Advancements, and Future Prospects journal April 2018
A Wearable All-Solid Photovoltaic Textile journal November 2015
Fully printable, strain-engineered electronic wrap for customizable soft electronics journal March 2017
Microchannel Structural Design For a Room-Temperature Liquid Metal Based Super-stretchable Sensor journal April 2019
Dissolvable tattoo sensors: from science fiction to a viable technology journal November 2016
Fabrication Approaches to Interconnect Based Devices for Stretchable Electronics: A Review journal March 2018
Highly conductive, flexible and stretchable conductors based on fractal silver nanostructures journal January 2018
The rise of plastic bioelectronics journal December 2016
All-organic optoelectronic sensor for pulse oximetry journal December 2014
Biocompatible chitosan-based composites with properties suitable for hyperthermia therapy journal January 2020
Recent Advances in Wearable Transdermal Delivery Systems journal January 2018
Localized etching of polymer films using an atmospheric pressure air microplasma jet journal December 2014
Recent Development of Transparent Conducting Oxide-Free Flexible Thin-Film Solar Cells journal October 2016
A Wearable Photobiomodulation Patch Using a Flexible Red-Wavelength OLED and Its In Vitro Differential Cell Proliferation Effects journal March 2018
Telecommunications and Data Processing in Flexible Electronic Systems journal November 2019
Hybrid 3D Printing All‐in‐One Heterogenous Rigidity Assemblies for Soft Electronics journal October 2019
Stretchable strain-tolerant soft printed circuit board: a systematic approach for the design rules of stretchable interconnects text January 2019
An elastic second skin journal May 2016
Healthcare Sensing and Monitoring book January 2019
Elastic kirigami patch for electromyographic analysis of the palm muscle during baseball pitching journal December 2019
All‐Manganese‐Based Binder‐Free Stretchable Lithium‐Ion Batteries journal May 2017
Wearable Electronics Based on 2D Materials for Human Physiological Information Detection journal July 2019
Shapeable magnetoelectronics journal March 2016
De Novo Synthesis and Assembly of Flexible and Biocompatible Physical Sensing Platforms journal August 2018
Extremely Stretchable Strain Sensors Based on Conductive Self-Healing Dynamic Cross-Links Hydrogels for Human-Motion Detection journal September 2016
Flexible Microfluidics: Fundamentals, Recent Developments, and Applications journal November 2019
Self-assembled three dimensional network designs for soft electronics. journalarticle January 2017
Multiscale Soft–Hard Interface Design for Flexible Hybrid Electronics journal August 2019
Bioresorbable Silicon Nanomembranes and Iron Catalyst Nanoparticles for Flexible, Transient Electrochemical Dopamine Monitors journal November 2018
Nanowire Chemical/Biological Sensors: Status and a Roadmap for the Future journal December 2015
Soft Core/Shell Packages for Stretchable Electronics journal May 2015
Ionic Gels and Their Applications in Stretchable Electronics journal July 2018
Soft Elastomers with Ionic Liquid-Filled Cavities as Strain Isolating Substrates for Wearable Electronics journal December 2016
Full 3D Printing of Stretchable Piezoresistive Sensor with Hierarchical Porosity and Multimodulus Architecture journal December 2018
3D Printed Stretchable Tactile Sensors journal May 2017
An ultra-thin highly flexible microfluidic device for blood oxygenation journal January 2018
Monitoring of Vital Signs with Flexible and Wearable Medical Devices journal February 2016
Plasmonic molecular assays: Recent advances and applications for mobile health journal June 2018
Miniaturized Flexible Electronic Systems with Wireless Power and Near-Field Communication Capabilities journal June 2015
Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis journal January 2016
A Dual-Organic-Transistor-Based Tactile-Perception System with Signal-Processing Functionality journal February 2017
A Highly Stretchable Transparent Self-Powered Triboelectric Tactile Sensor with Metallized Nanofibers for Wearable Electronics journal February 2018
Cooperativity in the Enhanced Piezoelectric Response of Polymer Nanowires journal October 2014
From Playroom to Lab: Tough Stretchable Electronics Analyzed with a Tabletop Tensile Tester Made from Toy‐Bricks journal January 2016
Kirigami-Inspired Deformable 3D Structures Conformable to Curved Biological Surface journal October 2018
Repurposed Leather with Sensing Capabilities for Multifunctional Electronic Skin journal December 2018
All‐in‐One, Wireless, Stretchable Hybrid Electronics for Smart, Connected, and Ambulatory Physiological Monitoring journal July 2019
Wearable Chemosensors: A Review of Recent Progress journal December 2017
Soft, stretchable, fully implantable miniaturized optoelectronic systems for wireless optogenetics journal November 2015
Skin-inspired hydrogel–elastomer hybrids with robust interfaces and functional microstructures journal June 2016
Flexible suspended gate organic thin-film transistors for ultra-sensitive pressure detection journal March 2015
Soft network composite materials with deterministic and bio-inspired designs journal March 2015
Intrinsically stretchable and transparent thin-film transistors based on printable silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes and an elastomeric dielectric journal July 2015
Flexible and self-powered temperature–pressure dual-parameter sensors using microstructure-frame-supported organic thermoelectric materials journal September 2015
A Controllable and Integrated Pump-enabled Microfluidic Chip and Its Application in Droplets Generating journal September 2017
Highly flexible, wearable, and disposable cardiac biosensors for remote and ambulatory monitoring journal January 2018
Intraoperative monitoring of neuromuscular function with soft, skin-mounted wireless devices journal May 2018
Continuous, noninvasive wireless monitoring of flow of cerebrospinal fluid through shunts in patients with hydrocephalus journal March 2020
Tape Transfer Atomization Patterning of Liquid Alloys for Microfluidic Stretchable Wireless Power Transfer journal February 2015
Wearable Fall Detector using Integrated Sensors and Energy Devices journal November 2015
Soft Electronics Enabled Ergonomic Human-Computer Interaction for Swallowing Training journal April 2017
Epidermal mechano-acoustic sensing electronics for cardiovascular diagnostics and human-machine interfaces journal November 2016
Bend, stretch, and touch: Locating a finger on an actively deformed transparent sensor array journal March 2017
Skin-interfaced systems for sweat collection and analytics journal February 2018
Stretchable ultrasonic transducer arrays for three-dimensional imaging on complex surfaces journal March 2018
Printing of wirelessly rechargeable solid-state supercapacitors for soft, smart contact lenses with continuous operations journal December 2019
Machine-knitted washable sensor array textile for precise epidermal physiological signal monitoring journal March 2020
Wearable sensors based on colloidal nanocrystals journal April 2019
Soft Pneumatic Actuator Skin with Piezoelectric Sensors for Vibrotactile Feedback journal January 2016
Soft Material-Enabled, Flexible Hybrid Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces journal January 2018
Flexible and Stretchable Bio-Integrated Electronics Based on Carbon Nanotube and Graphene journal July 2018
A Soft Polydimethylsiloxane Liquid Metal Interdigitated Capacitor Sensor and Its Integration in a Flexible Hybrid System for On-Body Respiratory Sensing journal May 2019
FEP Encapsulated Crack-Based Sensor for Measurement in Moisture-Laden Environment journal May 2019
A Performance-Enhanced Liquid Metal-Based Microheater with Parallel Ventilating Side-Channels journal January 2020
Mechanisms and Materials of Flexible and Stretchable Skin Sensors journal February 2017
Laser-Assisted Mist Capillary Self-Alignment journal December 2017
Tunnel Encapsulation Technology for Durability Improvement in Stretchable Electronics Fabrication journal October 2018
Tape Transfer Printing of a Liquid Metal Alloy for Stretchable RF Electronics journal September 2014
A Review of Wearable Technologies for Elderly Care that Can Accurately Track Indoor Position, Recognize Physical Activities and Monitor Vital Signs in Real Time journal February 2017
The Boom in 3D-Printed Sensor Technology journal May 2017
Recent Progress in Wireless Sensors for Wearable Electronics journal October 2019
Impact of Fabric Properties on Textile Pressure Sensors Performance journal October 2019
Flexible Ultrasonic Transducer Array with Bulk PZT for Adjuvant Treatment of Bone Injury journal December 2019

Similar Records

Fractal design concepts for stretchable electronics
Journal Article · Fri Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1876381

Epidermal Differential Impedance Sensor for Conformal Skin Hydration Monitoring
Journal Article · Thu Aug 23 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Biointerphases · OSTI ID:1876381

Soft network composite materials with deterministic and bio-inspired designs
Journal Article · Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1876381

Related Subjects