I-Corps: Flexible and Stretchable Electronic Skin Sensor

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力涉及新兴的“电子皮肤”应用。 将该技术应用于糖尿病高危人群压疮的早期检测，将使糖尿病足溃疡愈合者的截肢率降至1%以下。特别地，压力性溃疡是由皮肤上的长时间压力引起的皮肤损伤，通常由于糖尿病患者由于神经损伤和血液循环问题而无法感觉到疼痛，从而降低了身体的愈合能力并增加了感染的风险。因此，早期发现压疮对于防止需要截肢的病情恶化非常重要。该项目的技术将产生一个低成本的连续监测系统，该系统与人体和日常活动无缝连接，从而改善对糖尿病高危人群的护理。该I-Corps项目基于将导电纳米材料与新型设计的柔性橡胶状聚合物平台相结合的技术。可拉伸和柔性电极由部分嵌入聚二甲基硅氧烷衬底中的垂直排列的碳纳米管组成，这有助于在拉伸和弯曲下实现可靠和稳定的设备。作为概念验证，该传感器已成功测试用于测量人的生物信号。这项技术将直接影响传感和电子存储设备向医疗和电子皮肤应用的发展。特别是，由此产生的奋进将直接受益于医疗领域，提供更深入的预后和模式识别在关键伤口发展阶段。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project relates to the emerging "electronics skin" application. Adapting the technology towards early detection of pressure ulcers for at risk individuals with diabetes will result in prevention of amputations for persons with healed diabetic foot ulcers to less than 1%. In particular, a pressure ulcer is a skin injury resulting from prolonged pressure on the skin, often complicated by diabetic's common inability to feel pain due to nerve damage and blood circulation problems reducing the body's ability to heal and increasing risk of infection. Thus, early detection of pressure ulcers is important to prevent worsening conditions that necessitate amputation of limb(s). The technology from this project will result in a low-cost continuous monitoring system that is seamless to one's body and daily activities, enabling improved care for at risk individuals with diabetes.This I-Corps project is based on the technology that combines electrically conductive nanomaterials with a flexible, rubber-like polymer platform in a novel design. The stretchable and flexible electrodes are composed of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes partially embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane substrate, which facilitates reliable and stable devices under both stretching and bending. As a proof-of-concept, the sensor was successfully tested for measuring biological signals of a person. This technology will directly impact the development of sensing and electronic storage devices toward medical and e-skin applications. In particular, the resulting endeavor will directly benefit the medical field, providing greater insight into prognosis and pattern recognition at critical wound development stages.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.