Flexible Electronics Skin - Electronics Engineering Seminar Topic Latest 2017

Abstract

Electronics plays a very important role in developing simple devices used for any purpose. In every field electronic equipment's are required. The best achievement as well as future example of integrated electronics in medical field is Artificial Skin. It is ultra thin electronics device attaches to the skin like a sick on tattoo which can measure electrical activity of heart, brain waves & other vital signals.
Artificial skin is skin grown in a laboratory. It can be used as skin replacement for people who have suffered skin trauma, such as severe burns or skin diseases, or robotic applications.

This paper focuses on the Artificial skin(E-Skin) to build a skin work similar to that of the human skin and also it is embedded with several sensations or the sense of touch acting on the skin. This skin is already being stitched together. It consists of millions of embedded electronic measuring devices: thermostats, pressure gauges, pollution detectors, cameras, microphones, glucose sensors, EKGs, electronic holographs. This device would enhance the new technology which is emerging and would greatly increase the usefulness of robotic probes in areas where the human cannot venture.

The sensor could pave the way for a overabundance of new applications that can wirelessly monitor the vitals and body movements of a patient sending information directly to a computer that can log and store data to better assist in future decisions. This paper offers an insight view of the internal structure, fabrication process and different manufacturing processes.

Introduction

Electronics plays a very important role in developing simple devices used for any purpose. In every field electronic equipment's are required. The best achievement as well as future example of integrated electronics in medical field is Artificial Skin. It is ultra thin electronics device attaches to the skin like a sick on tattoo which can measure electrical activity of heart, brain waves & other vital signals. Evolution in robotics is demanding increased perception of the environment. Human skin provides sensory perception of temperature, touch/pressure, and air flow.

Goal is to develop sensors on flexible substrates that are compliant to curved surfaces. Researcher’s objective is for making an artificial skin is to make a revolutionary change in robotics, in medical field, in flexible electronics. Skin is large organ in human body so artificial skin replaces it according to our need. Main objective of artificial skin is to sense heat, pressure, touch, airflow and whatever which human skin sense. It is replacement for prosthetic limbs and robotic arms. Artificial skin is skin grown in a laboratory.

There are various names of artificial skin in biomedical field it is called as artificial skin, in our electronics field it is called as electronic skin, some scientist it called as sensitive skin, in other way it also called as synthetic skin, some people says that it is fake skin. Such different names are available but application is same it is skin replacement for people who have suffered skin trauma, such as severe burns or skin diseases, or robotic applications & so on. An artificial skin has also been recently demonstrated at the University of Cincinnati for in-vitriol sweat simulation and testing, capable of skin-like texture, wetting, sweat pore-density, and sweat rates
With the interactive e-skin, demonstration is takes place an elegant system on plastic that can be wrapped around different objects to enable a new form of HMI. Other companies, including Massachusetts-based engineering firm MC10, have created flexible electronic circuits that are attached to a wearer's skin using a rubber stamp. MC10 originally designed the tattoos, called Biostamps, to help medical teams measure the health of their patients either remotely, or without the need for large expensive machinery. Fig 2 shows the various parts that make up the MC10 electronic tattoo called the Biostamp. It can be stuck to the body using a rubber stamp, and protected using spray-on bandages. The circuit can be worn for two weeks and Motorola believes this makes it perfect for authentication purposes.
Biostamp use high-performance silicon, can stretch up to 200 per cent and can monitor temperature, hydration and strain, among other medical statistics. Javey's study claims that while building sensors into networks isn't new, interactive displays; being able to recognize touch and pressure and have the flexible circuit respond to it is 'breakthrough'. His team is now working on a sample that could also register and respond to changes in temperature and light to make the skin even more lifelike.

Large-area ultrasonic sensor arrays that could keep both robots and humans out of trouble. An ultrasonic skin covering an entire robot body could work as a 360-degree proximity sensor, measuring the distance between the robot and external obstacles. This could prevent the robot from crashing into walls or allow it to handle our soft, fragile human bodies with more care. For humans, it could provide prosthetics or garments that are hyperaware of their surroundings. Besides adding multiple functions to e-skins, it’s also important to improve their electronic properties, such as the speed at which signals can be read from the sensors. For that, electron mobility is a fundamental limiting factor, so some researchers are seeking to create flexible materials that allow electrons to move very quickly.

Ali Javey and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, have hadsome success in that area. They figured out how to make flexible, large-area electronics by printing semiconducting nanowires onto plastics and paper. Nanowires have excellent electron mobility, but they hadn’t been used in large-area electronics before. Materials like the ones Javey developed will also allow for fascinating new functions for e-skins. My team has developed electromagnetic coupling technology for e-skin, which would enable wireless power transmission.

Imagine being able to charge your prosthetic arm by resting your hand on a charging pad on your desk. In principle, any sort of conductor could work for this, but if materials with higher electron mobility are used, the transmission frequency could increase, resulting in more efficient coupling. Linking sensors with radio-frequency communication modules within an e-skin would also allow the wireless transmission of information from skin to computer—or, conceivably, to other e-skinned people.


REFERENCES
IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol.12,No.8, August 12

Massachusetts engineering firm MC 10

Nature materials

ICap Technologies, http://www.icaptech.com/.

Artificial Skin - used, first, blood, body, produced, Burke and Yannas Create Synthetic Skin, Graftskin.

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How is artificial skin made?: Information from". Answers.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.