Electronic skin, also known as e-skin or bioelectronic skin, is a technology that refers to flexible and stretchable circuits that can sense touch or environmental stimuli much like human skin. E-skin contains network of sensors, actuators and other electronics which are embedded on surfaces. These can measure pressure, temperature, humidity and other physical quantities over areas just like our skin provides two-dimensional spatial sensing. Some types of electronic skin are also capable of simulating the sense of touch by applying haptics.
Materials and Sensors Used in E-Skin Development
One of the major challenges in developing effective electronic skin is designing materials that are soft, flexible and can mimic the properties of human epidermis. Most e-skin prototypes to date use materials like silicone, polyimide and other organic substrates engineered to high stretchability and strength. Sensors embedded in e-skin include strain gauges for measuring mechanical deformation, temperature sensors, humidity sensors and various kinds of pressure sensors including capacitive, piezoelectric and piezoresistive technologies. Advancement in nanomaterials is helping create ever more sensitive, smaller and flexible sensors. Graphene and carbon nanotubes are being widely explored for building e-skin sensors due to their excellent mechanical and electrical properties even at nanoscale dimensions.
Applications in Prosthetics and Robotics
Perhaps one of the most impactful uses of Electronic Skin is in developing prosthetic limbs and humanoids that can regain the fundamental human sense of touch. E-skin embedded with pressure and vibrotactile sensors can allow prosthetic hands and arms to sense textures and grips. This makes such bionic replacements more intuitive to use. Meanwhile, socially assistive robots aimed for applications like elderly care can use e-skin to gently monitor patient health through non-intrusive skin contact. Soft e-skin patches can make robots safer to interact with humans both physically as well as emotionally through interpreting nonverbal cues. Advancements in brain-machine interfaces may further help amputees experience virtual sensations of touch transmitted from prosthetic e-skin.
Integration with Wearables and Health Monitoring
The convergence of electronic skin and wearable technologies is opening up applications for non-invasive health monitoring and personal e-care. E-skin patches integrated with various biosensors can continuously track vitals like heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, ECG, body temperature and other biosignals by being worn directly on skin. Smart bandages containing e-skin can monitor wounds and support faster healing. Fitness trackers and smart clothing are utilizing the flexibility and conformability of e-skin to discreetly track biometrics during daily activities and workouts. Such skins blended seamlessly into garments also hold promise for monitoring infants and elderly through 24/7 health tracking without hindering their mobility.
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