CAREER: Papertronic Sensors for Concurrent Bioelectrical and Sweat-based Diagnostics

这个可穿戴的、基于纸张的传感器项目用于测量生物电信号和汗水，它将致力于为安全的工作环境提供设备，并使社会更接近于预算友好的个性化医疗。该结果将补充商业和学术方面的努力，以开发用于脑电图和汗液诊断的非植入式、高灵敏度、便携式仪器和算法。利用这项研究的科学和工程成果，监测人类警觉性和压力的技术将有可能提高个人及其周围环境的安全性。材料处理方法和简单共享的模拟也将影响便携式免疫分析的商业发展，弥合机器和人类之间差距的脑机接口，以及可再生纸制品的可扩展处理。学生和未来几代工程师将有机会通过本科一年级的研讨会、高中生的暑期项目和创业指导，积极学习新兴的纸电子技术。这项为期五年的计划的研究目标是：(1)设计高灵敏度、低成本的新型生物电和汗液诊断设备；(2)利用压印技术在纸质电子产品中设计疏水性和导电性；(3)模拟液体/凝胶、功能化纤维和多孔纸结构中的电化学-机械物理。如果成功，这项工作将减少电极和皮肤之间对生物电信号的阻抗，提高对汗液中嵌入的生物标志物的敏感性，并提供详细的、易于共享的模拟，以模拟纸电子传感器中多孔和充满液体的电极的电化学-机械行为。该提案的假设是，纸张电化学测量灵敏度的提高将取决于可调孔隙率和纸张中功能化的导电纤维。支持这一假设的方法是，将多功能纸制成能够容纳液体的纸，并在纤维上调节电化学性能。对于生物电传感器，研究小组将展示新的材料加工技术，以制造嵌入银纳米线的电解导电片，用于在纸电子传感器和人体皮肤之间进行低阻抗转导。对于基于汗液的诊断，该团队将率先采用先进技术，在纤维纤维浇铸成薄片之前和之后对其进行功能化。这些带有功能化氧化锌纳米线的薄片将捕获皮质醇激素，并用电化学阻抗谱测量其浓度。对纸电子系统的电化学-机械物理的详细的、易于共享的模拟也将促进预测和新的传感设备。这一努力将标志着生物电信号和汗液同步测量的进展。这项工作还将导致用于执行电化学阻抗谱的可穿戴硬件。这个系统有可能使人体测试研究能够评估脑电波和皮质醇如何与警觉和压力状态相关联。

This project on wearable, paper-based sensors for measuring bioelectrical signals and sweat will work toward devices for safe working environments and bring society closer to budget-friendly personalized medicine. The results will complement both commercial and academic efforts to develop non-implantable, highly sensitive, portable instrumentation and algorithms for electroencephalography and sweat-based diagnostics. Using the science and engineering outcomes of this study, techniques for monitoring human alertness and stress will have the potential to improve the safety of individuals and their surrounding environments. The material processing methods and simple-to-share simulations will also impact commercial development of portable immunoassays, brain-computer interfaces for bridging the gaps between machines and humans, and scalable processing of renewable paper products. Students and future generations of engineers will have opportunities to engage in emerging papertronic technologies through active learning in seminars for first-year undergraduate students, summer programs for high school students, and entrepreneurial mentorship.The research objectives of this five-year proposal are to (1) design novel devices for bioelectrical and sweat-based diagnostics with high sensitivity and low cost; (2) leverage embossing techniques for patterning hydrophobicity and conductivity in paper-based electronics; and (3) model the electro-chemo-mechanical physics in constructs of liquid/gel, functionalized fibers, and porous paper. If successful, this work will reduce the impedance between electrodes and skin for bioelectrical signals, improve sensitivity to biomarkers embedded in sweat, and provide detailed, simple-to-share simulations to model the electro-chemo-mechanical behavior of porous and liquid-filled electrodes in papertronic sensors. The hypothesis for this proposal is that increased sensitivity in paper-based electrochemical measurements will depend on tunable porosity and functionalized, conductive fibers in paper. Support for this hypothesis will come through building multi-functionality into paper capable of holding liquid and having tuned electrochemical properties along the fibers. For bioelectrical sensors, the research team will demonstrate new material processing techniques to make electrolytic conductive sheets with embedded silver nanowires for low-impedance transduction between papertronic sensors and human skin. For sweat-based diagnostics, the team will pioneer advanced techniques for functionalizing cellulosic fibers before and after casting them into sheets. These sheets with functionalized zinc oxide nanowires will capture cortisol hormones and measure their concentration with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Detailed, simple-to-share simulations for the electro-chemo-mechanical physics of the papertronic systems will also facilitate prediction and new sensing devices. This effort will mark progress toward concurrent measurements of bioelectrical signals and sweat. This work will also lead to wearable hardware for performing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. This system has the potential to enable human test studies to evaluate how brain waves and cortisol correlate with states of alertness and stress.