Electronic Tattoo with Transferable Printed Electrodes and Interconnects for Wireless Electrophysiology Monitoring

Abstract

The increasing need for wearable electrophysiological monitoring devices has motivated significant amount of research to develop electronic tattoos (e‐tattoo) enabling high comfortability and unobtrusive usage. Despite considerable advancements, challenges still remain that limit the device testing under clinical settings and consequently, the uptake to practical usage. A key challenge is the robust full signal pathway from the skin to the electronics device. Another factor limiting the concept testing with high number of test devices is the lack for scalable materials and processes comprising all manufacturing steps. The study presents a scalable manufacturing of self‐adhering tattoo electrodes and interconnects on transferable breathable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate with the thickness of 30 µm. Transfer tattoo enables two‐sided signal pathway from the skin, in to the encapsulated conductor traces and provides exposed connection points to electronics. The e‐tattoos withstand repeated one thousand, 10% elongation cycles and the transfer substrate showed breathability comparable to commercial medical patches. The integration of flexible wireless ECG module with the skin‐mounted e‐tattoo is also demonstrated. The results enable the up‐scaled fabrication of robust e‐tattoos with integrated electronic modules that is prerequisite for the scientific studies relying on high number of test devices and industrial uptake of e‐tattoo concepts.

Flexible Soft-Printed Polymer Films with Tunable Plasmonic Properties

“…Such tapes with transferred AuNIs may serve for medical applications such as phototherapy, transdermal Au-supported drug delivery, or as an antibacterial adhesive. Moreover, it is expected that upon transferring AuNIs to a dissolvable tape and combining it with the patterning ability/electric circuits, islands might be potentially transferred to any kind of surface or skin-creating, e.g., tattoo-like medical biomonitoring devices …”

Naturally sourced hydrogels: emerging fundamental materials for next-generation healthcare sensing

“…450 Their porous structures and ultrathin thickness ensure the efficient transportation of target molecules through the interface, which can maximize the performance of various bioelectronics on the human skin or the surfaces of various organs. 451 However, the performance of current integrated devices mainly relies on the traditional functional materials (like metal, carbon), rather than the previously mentioned functional hydrogels. There is a big challenge to achieve a whole hydrogel-based electronic device with reliable performance.…”

Tape‐Free, Digital Wearable Band for Exercise Sweat Rate Monitoring

“…Modern wearable devices offer a robust monitoring platform primarily for physical attributes like motion, heart rate, temperature, and electrodermal activity. [ 1–7 ] Sweat rate monitoring presents an additional metric to discover indicators of underlying physical conditions that current devices may be unable to access. [ 3,8–10 ] For example, sweat rate is important for the assessment and diagnosis of physical conditions like hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) and hypohidrosis (lack of sweating) during sedentary or daily activities; it can also be used along with fluid intake quantities to assess the dehydration levels of athletes to maintain proper fluid balance and bodily functions.…”

“…Modern wearable devices offer a robust monitoring platform primarily for physical attributes like motion, heart rate, temperature, and electrodermal activity. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Sweat rate monitoring presents an additional metric to discover indicators of under-experts. [25][26][27] Therefore, health status is not immediately available to the user for corrective measures such as replacing lost fluids with a corresponding intake of water or sports drink.…”