Friday, August 19, 2011

An unusual Tattoo

The dots and curved lines of golden braid of the stamp is very similar to temporary tattoos. But the function of thin film applied directly to the arm or elsewhere in the body is not as decoration, but to monitor your heart rate, temperature, and other patient vital signs.

Hair-thin plaster clear that a time will help nurses and doctors in checking the condition of patients. Wireless small plaster will report all the basic information needed to determine the condition of a person's health.

The team of researchers from various countries involved in such research say it will get rid of the thin film intricately long wires and electrodes used in the heart of the current monitoring tools. A patient of heart disease, for instance, must wear a large monitors for a month or longer to detect any abnormal heart activity.

Currently electrode coated with an adhesive gel is quite practical to monitor heart rate. But many people, especially those with sensitive skin, often feel itchy or rashes on the skin. The new tools that do not use this adhesive will make the patient feel more comfortable.

"We tried to refine and give a new shape on these electronic tools to make it look more like the human body, in this case the surface layer of the skin," said John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. "The goal is to blur the distinction between biological and electronic networks."

Researchers embed electronic sensors into the film layer is much thinner in diameter than a human hair. The film was placed on a sheet of polyester, as used temporary tattoos to children. The result is a sensor that is sufficiently flexible to follow movement with no torn or folded skin, and attached without the need for glue.

Researchers say the device will remain attached to the body up to 24 hours. But Rogers said that, when normal skin cells flake off, the monitor will also be released, so the tool is expected to remain on the skin up to two weeks.

Besides being used to monitor the health of patients in the hospital, the tool can be used to monitor brain waves, muscle movements, detecting the larynx to speak, emit heat to help heal wounds, it can even be made sensitive to touch and put on artificial limbs.

"The equipment will help meet the need for a tool that is much more simple and not add to the stress of patients, provide monitoring results more easily and accurately," said Zhenqiang Ma, professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, commenting on the discovery tool. "Electronic skin that can be affixed or exfoliated as usual band-aid."

The monitor was very similar to wound dressings or plaster. Although no cable, these devices can send data via a small antenna. "But the radio will transmit data that has not been tested," said Rogers.

Rogers is the founder of MC10 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who developed the tool to be used commercially. But he could not estimate when the tool is ready for the market, as well as electronic skin that price.

Tool called the epidermis of electronic systems (EES) is comprised of miniature sensors, LED (light-emitting diode), a mini transmitter and receiver, and a network of filaments of wire strung together thoroughly. All that is inserted into the film. The monitor also has a small coil and gain energy from the induction.

"By putting it near an electric coil, the device can be used on a regular basis," he said. "For long-term monitoring, it needs a small battery or capacitor."

Although not using the glue, the monitor can be attached to the skin with great force. The film relies on a fragile power-called van der Waals forces, which causes the molecule and attached to the surface and form a bond without inhibiting movement. The ability of geckos and lizards to climb the slippery surface is also supported by Van der Waals force. For long-term use, this electronic skin can be coated with glue.

Rogers and Kim Dae-Hyuong, who was also from the University of Illinois, has been working on technology development for several years. Previously, they have worked together to develop flexible electronic devices for hemispherical camera sensors. and other equipment that has a complicated shape.

Researchers have tried electronic skin on some volunteers. The tool was able to work 24 hours, even more, when attached to the arm, neck, forehead, cheeks and chin. The tool did not cause skin irritation.

The research team also used the instrument to measure the electrical activity generated by the heart and leg muscles. Evidently, the signal emitted by the tool fits with the sign taken simultaneously using a common electrode and the gel adhesive that can be used to replace the monitor techniques at hospitals someday. *** [TJANDRA DEWI | AP | SCIENCEMAG | GRAPHICNEWS | KORAN TEMPO 3622]

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