Engineers Develop New Method for Making Wearable Electronics

Assitant professor Nanshu Lu and her team have developed a faster, inexpensive method for making epidermal electronics. Cockrell School of Engineering AUSTIN, Texas -  A team of researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has invented a method for producing inexpensive and high-performing wearable patches that can continuously monitor the body's vital signs for human health and performance tracking, potentially outperforming traditional monitoring tools such as cardiac event monitors. The researchers published a paper on their patent-pending process in Advanced Materials on Sept. Led by Assistant Professor Nanshu Lu, the team's manufacturing method aims to construct disposable tattoo-like health monitoring patches for the mass production of epidermal electronics, a popular technology that Lu helped develop in 2011. The team's breakthrough is a repeatable "cut-and-paste" method that cuts manufacturing time from several days to only 20 minutes. The researchers believe their new method is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing - an existing method for creating devices in bulk using a roll of flexible plastic and a processing machine. Reliable, ultrathin wearable electronic devices that stick to the skin like a temporary tattoo are a relatively new innovation.