Stretchy and squeezy soft sensors one step closer thanks to new bonding method

Imperial College London bioengineers have found a way to create stretchy and squeezy soft sensing devices by bonding rubber to electrical components. Stretchy and squeezy soft sensors that can fit around body parts or squeezed in hands could be used for applications including sports and rehabilitation after injury or stroke. For example, soft electrical force sensors in the form for a squeeze ball could monitor the rehabilitation of patients with hand injuries or neurological disorders. We hope this method will allow us to make low-cost soft sensors that are reliable and portable, that can be used to monitor people's health in their own homes. Michael Kasimatis While such sensors have been in development for a long time, none have made it to market because they cannot easily be integrated with electronic components, like the wires, computer chips and batteries needed to gather, process and send the data the sensor collects. Now, a team of researchers from Imperial have invented a way to bond the stretchy and squeezy force-sensitive soft materials to electrical components. They have developed a bond so strong that the stretchy rubber itself breaks before the bond between the two different materials does.