Epidermal mechano-acoustic sensing electronics for cardiovascular diagnostics and human-machine interfaces

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Acoustic Signal Processing

Background:

• Physiological mechano-acoustic signals offer clinical utility but are difficult to capture continuously with conventional devices.
• Existing methods like stethoscopes and accelerometers have limitations for wearable, long-term monitoring due to skin transduction issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel soft, conformal device for continuous, skin-integrated mechano-acoustic recording.
• To demonstrate the device's capability for multimodal operation, including electrophysiological recording.
• To explore the potential of this technology in advanced clinical diagnostics and human-machine interfaces.

Main Methods:

• Development of a soft, conformal class of device with low effective modulus and low areal mass density.
• Experimental and computational studies to optimize device performance for skin-based measurements.
• Clinical demonstrations including seismocardiography, heart murmur detection, and ventricular assist device monitoring.

Main Results:

• The soft device effectively captures physiological mechano-acoustic signals from the skin.
• Successful demonstrations in advanced clinical diagnostics like seismocardiography and heart murmur detection.
• Applications shown in monitoring mechanical implants (ventricular assist devices) and in speech recognition.

Conclusions:

• Soft, skin-integrated digital technologies offer a versatile platform for capturing human body acoustics.
• The developed device enables continuous, wearable monitoring with potential for broad clinical and technological applications.
• This technology advances the field of non-invasive physiological monitoring and human-computer interaction.