L’Oreal’s wearable sensor tracks UV, pollen and pollution

L'Oreal isn't a brand you'd usually associate with medical technology, but over the past few years it's been making major inroads in skin protection innovation. There was My UV Patch, designed to inform wearers how their skin was being affected by th...

Researchers print biometric sensors directly on skin, make wearable health monitors more durable

Researchers print biometric sensors directly on skin, make wearable health monitors more durableMC10 might be best known for its wearable electronics aimed at athletes, but the company also makes a medical diagnostic sticker called a biostamp. Its creator (and MC10 co-founder), John Rogers has refined that design so that it's no longer an elastomer sticker -- now he can apply the biostamp's thin, stretchy electronics directly on human skin, and bond it with commercially available spray-on bandage material. By losing the elastomer backing of the original biostamp and applying the circuits directly to the skin, Rogers and his team at the University of Illinois were able to shave the device's thickness to 1/30th of the (already quite thin) biostamp. That super thin profile means it conforms even better to the contours of human hide and makes it shower- and swim-proof during the two weeks it lasts before being naturally exfoliated with your skin.

For those unfamiliar with what the biostamp does, it's a mesh of circuits and sensors that can record electrophysiological data like skin temperature and hydration state of the wearer. The new biostamp won't be in your doctor's tool box any time soon, however, as Rogers and his team are still refining the wireless power and communication technologies it leverages. Of course, once those problems are solved, there's a good chance we'll see MC10 turning it into a commercial product.

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Via: The Verge

Source: MIT Technology Review

John Rogers returns with a silicon-silk circuit that dissolves inside your body

John Rogers returns with a siliconsilk circuit that dissolves inside your body

While you'd be forgiven for not knowing who John Rogers is, he's certainly graced these pages more than once. He's the research chief at the University of Illinois that's previously broken new ground in the world of invisibility cloaks and wearable technology. This time, his team has cooked up a silicon, magnesium, magnesium oxide and silk circuit that's designed to dissolve in the body in the same way that absorbable sutures are used in minor surgeries. It's thought that the tech could eventually be used to implant monitors that never need removal, reducing invasive medical procedures, or even build devices that eventually turn into compost rather than E-waste -- although we're not sure we'd appreciate our smartphone doing the same thing when we're making calls in the rain.

[Image Credit: Fiorenzo Omenetto / Science]

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John Rogers returns with a silicon-silk circuit that dissolves inside your body originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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