Scientists Take Inspiration from Octopus to Create Wearable Biosensor that Sticks to Wet and Dry Skin

Scientists often take inspiration from nature when developing new materials.

A graphene-based adhesive biosensor inspired by octopus’ “suckers” is flexible and holds up in wet and dry environments (Image credit: ACS)

Scientists often take inspiration from nature when developing new materials. For example, octopus and mollusks can be excellent specimens of adhesive technology because their technique beats human scientists. Now, a team of scientists from South Korea’s Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) have developed a new waterproof, wearable biosensor that can stick to the skin in a unique way.

Related Wearable Biosensors Help Wound Healing Process by Mimicking Skin

For a wearable sensor to be truly effective, it must adhere fully to the skin. This means being flexible, staying attached when the skin is wet or dry, and working well even if there’s a lot of hair growing. Thus, the choice of substrate, the material that the sensing compounds rest upon, is crucial. Woven yarn is a popular substrate, but it sometimes doesn’t fully contact the skin, especially if that skin is hairy. Typical yarns and threads are also vulnerable to wet environments. Adhesives can lose their grip underwater, and in dry environments they can be so sticky that they can be painful when peeled off. To overcome these challenges, Changhyun Pang, Changsoon Choi and colleagues worked to develop a low-cost, graphene-based sensor with a yarn-like substrate that uses octopus-like suckers to adhere to skin, reports American Chemical Society.

An elastic polyurethane and polyester fabric was coated with graphene oxide and then soaked in L-ascorbic acid to aid in conductivity while still retaining its strength and stretch. Next, the scientists added a coating of a graphene and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film to form a conductive path from the fabric to the skin. Finally, they etched tiny, octopus-like patterns on the film. The sensor could detect a wide range of pressures and motions in both wet and dry environments. The device also could monitor an array of human activities, including electrocardiogram signals, pulse and speech patterns, demonstrating its potential use in medical applications, the researchers say.

Image: DGIST

Related Maxim MAX86150: The First Ever Integrated PPG and ECG Biosensor Module for Wearables

The team is eyeing the sensor’s use for not only personal health monitoring but also for potential new and innovative medical applications both externally and internally.

“Our approach has opened up a new possibility for wearable and skin-adherent electronic fabric sensors working even in wet environments for health-care monitoring and medical applications in vitro and in vivo,” the researchers wrote.

WT | Wearable Technologies Conference in San Francisco on July 9-10

The most innovative wearables event will be back on July 9-10 in beautiful San Francisco at SEMICON West to celebrate the 34th edition of the WT | Wearable Technologies Conference Series. Topics include data analytics in professional sports, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation with wearables, the future of digital health, medication and adherence, smart patches, workflow optimization and workforce safety and much more – featuring international leaders and experts of the wearables industry´s biggest names including Abbott, Autodesk, Datwyler, Kopin, Maxim Integrated, Multek, NFLPA, Omron, SharkDreams, Qualcomm, and many more. Register now to be part of #WTUS19

Sam Draper
June 24, 2019

Innovation of the Month

Do you want to discover more, visit the website
Visit Website

Other news

Swiss Startup IDUN Technologies Launches its First Product, The Dryode

The Swiss ETH Spin-off, IDUN Technologies has launched its first product...

Canadian Not-for-Profit Organization Offers VR-Based Driver Training to Prevent Railway Track Accidents

Prevention for Railway Track Accidents.

PlayerMaker: A Complete Coaching Tool for Football Teams

PlayerMaker is a performance insight product for football teams.

Smart Fabrics With Bioactive Inks Monitor Health Of the Wearer By Changing Color

A team of researchers at Tufts University’s School of Engineering have developed biomaterial....
Discover more