Category: Sensors
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Video: John Rogers on soft electronics for the human body
Recorded at ApplySci’s Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 19th at the MIT Media Lab. Join ApplySci at Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Silicon Valley on February 26-27, 2018 at Stanford University. Speakers include: Vinod Khosla – Justin Sanchez – Brian Otis – Bryan Johnson – Zhenan Bao…
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Prosthetic “skin” senses force, vibration
Jonathan Posner, with University of Washington and UCLA colleagues, has developed a flexible sensor “skin” that can be stretched over prostheses to determine force and vibration. The skin mimics the way a human finger responds to tension and compression, as it slides along a surface or distinguishes among different textures. This could allow users to sense when…
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Pressure sensors generated from pattern-forming bacteria
Paul Ruffin Scarborough, Stefan Zauscher, and Duke colleagues have programmed bacteria with a synthetic gene circuit to turn them into working devices. As a bacterial colony grows into the shape of a hemisphere, the gene circuit triggers the production of a protein, to distribute within the colony, that recruits inorganic materials. Gold nanoparticles enable the…
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Ingestible, flexible sensor to diagnose gastrointestinal disorders
Canan Dagdeviren, Giovanni Traverso, Bob Langer, and MIT and Brigham and Women’s colleagues have built a swallowable, flexible sensor that adheres to the stomach wall or intestinal lining to measure digestive track contractions. It could be used to help diagnose gastrointestinal disorders or to monitor food intake. The piezoelectric device generates a current and voltage when…
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Sensor-embedded prosthetic monitors gait, detects infection
Jerome Lynch, with ONR and Walter Reed researchers, has developed a “smart” prosthetic leg, with embedded sensors that monitor a wearer’s gait, the condition of the device, and the risk of infection. The Monitoring OsseoIntegrated Prostheses uses a limb which includes a titanium fixture surgically implanted into the femur. Bone grows at the implant’s connection…
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Piezoelectric sensor determines antibiotic efficacy in 1 hour
Ward Johnson and NIST colleagues have developed a piezoelectric sensor to rapidly determine whether an antibiotic combats an infection. Quartz-crystal resonators, with varying vibrations, measure surface particle changes, to quickly sense mechanical fluctuations of bacterial cells and changes induced by an antibiotic. Results are provided in less than an hour. Current antimicrobial tests require days…
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Radar monitor uses appliances to track health wirelessly
Toru Sato and Kyoto University and Panasonic colleagues have refined a wireless, radar-based vital measuring device they developed last year. The original sensor combined a radar with signal analysis algorithms to measure how the body moves as the heart beats. Software filters isolated the heart’s minute motions while the body moved. However it was extremely…
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Patch monitors diabetes compounds in sweat for 1 week
University of Texas professor Shalini Prasad has developed an adhesive sensor that measures diabetes-associated compounds in small amounts of sweat. Blood glucose levels, cortisol and interleukin-6 are detected in perspiration for one week with full signal integrity. The device uses ambient sweat, created by the body with out stimulation. The sensor can be placed anywhere…
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Small, adhesive, wireless patch collects, transmits, extensive health data
Northwestern’s John Rogers and Kyung-In Jang of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology have developed a small, adhesive, flexible silicone patch capable of monitoring multiple health parameters. The soft, body-conforming wearable contains 50 components connected by 250 3-D wire coils embedded in protective silicone. It collects and wirelessly transmits data about movement, respiration, and…
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Apple patents multi-parameter, phone-based health tracking
Apple has been granted a patent for phone technology using a front-facing camera and light, proximity, and multiple sensors to measure body fat, heart rate, circulation, blood pressure, and breathing, as well as emotional state via galvanic skin response. The device computes health data of the user based upon sensor data regarding the received light. It has been reported…
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Sensor glove translates sign language, mimics gestures
UCSD’s Timothy O’Connor and Darren Lipomi have developed The Language of Glove — glove that wirelessly translates American Sign Language into text, and controls a virtual hand to mimic sign language gestures. It was built for less than $100 using stretchable and printable electronics. Nine silicon-based polymer sensors, with a conductive carbon paint, were taped…
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Sensor detects asthma, cancer, diabetes in breath
KAIST professor Il-doo Kim 김일두 has developed a sensor that can diagnose diseases by measuring the concentration change of the specific gases in the breath, with out blood or imaging tests. Animal protein is used as a catalyst. The researchers claim that detection can be done at the time of disease metabolism, enabling early diagnosis. Hydrogen, acetone, toluene,…