Wearing your heart on your sleeve could take on a whole new meaning. An electronic skin can display a person鈥檚 heartbeat whilst attached to the back of their hand.
The e-skin displays a patient鈥檚 electrocardiogram 鈥� a waveform representing the electrical activity of the heart 鈥� based on data collected by an ultrathin, flexible sensor. The display can stretch up to 45 per cent longer than its original length, allowing it to conform to the contours and movements of the body.
The device鈥檚 creators are based at the University of Tokyo and Japanese company Dai Nippon Printing. Their new device features a 16 脳 24 array of micro LEDs that can create complex, moving images. This is an improvement on a previous version that could only display a single digit or letter.
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The team believe that displaying medical information or important messages directly on the skin rather than on monitors is more accessible for less tech-savvy people. 鈥淧eople use and look at their hands much more frequently than smartphones,鈥� says Takao Someya, at the University of Tokyo, who is presenting the device at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.
This could be particularly helpful for displaying important information. 鈥淔or example, elderly people forget to take medicine. It would be nice if the skin display gently shows a reminder,鈥� says Someya.
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Currently Someya鈥檚 demonstration shows pre-recorded heartbeat data, but he says a live feed is feasible. The sensor can also be paired with a wireless communication module to transmit data to the cloud so doctors can monitor patients remotely.
Zhenan Bao, who works on e-skins at Stanford University, says the display is impressive. Rigid batteries currently power the device, so developing flexible power sources will be important. 鈥淚f such displays can be made high resolution and the power issue is resolved, I can imagine wearing our cell phone on the arm as if it is part of our skin,鈥� she says.
