Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 20, 2026
06:37
Skin Tattooing As A Novel Approach For DNA Vaccine Delivery
Published on: October 18, 2012
16.6K
Local Crack-Programmed Gold Nanowire Electronic Skin Tattoos for In-Plane Multisensor Integration
Shu Gong1,2, Lim Wei Yap1,2, Bowen Zhu1,2
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|August 27, 2019
Summary
Researchers developed a novel gold electronic tattoo for seamless health monitoring. This "unfeelable" wearable uses unique cracking technology to integrate multiple sensors onto a single material, enabling advanced anytime, anywhere health tracking.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Wearable Electronics
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Wearable electronic systems are crucial for continuous health monitoring, but often face challenges with comfort and integration.
- Existing multifunctional systems typically require complex interfaces between multiple materials, limiting their practicality.
- The ideal wearable system should be sensitive, specific, multifunctional, and offer a burdenless wearing experience, mimicking skin integration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a skin-like, multifunctional electronic tattoo using a single material for enhanced wearability and health monitoring.
- To demonstrate a novel programmable local cracking technology for tuning the properties of elastic gold conductors.
- To integrate various sensors and interconnects without complex assembly methods like soldering or gluing.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of an electronic tattoo using a gold vertically aligned nanowire membrane with a mushroom-like structure.
- Application of programmable local cracking technology to precisely control the mechanical properties of gold conductors.
- In-plane integration of multiple sensors (strain, pressure, temperature, glucose, lactate) and stretchable interconnects.
Main Results:
- A multifunctional electronic tattoo made entirely from gold was successfully created.
- Programmable local cracking technology enabled tunable elasticity of gold conductors, from strain-insensitive to highly strain-sensitive.
- Seamless integration of diverse sensors and interconnects was achieved on the single-material tattoo without soldering or gluing.
Conclusions:
- The developed gold electronic tattoo offers a sensitive, specific, and multifunctional platform for 'any time, any where' health monitoring.
- The programmable local cracking technology provides a general and versatile strategy for designing next-generation elastic electronic systems.
- This approach overcomes limitations of complex multimaterial interfaces, paving the way for advanced, unfeelable wearable devices.
Related Concept Videos
01:11Work Done Over an Inclined Plane
3.9K
The center-of-mass framework helps to easily describe the work done on rigid bodies. Since the internal forces in a rigid body do no work, they can be ignored, and the external forces can be considered in the work-energy theorem.
The work done by gravity to move a rigid body, or the work done by an opposing force to move a rigid body against gravity, can be calculated using the center-of-mass framework. It is the line integral of the force of gravity over the path, considered positive if...
The work done by gravity to move a rigid body, or the work done by an opposing force to move a rigid body against gravity, can be calculated using the center-of-mass framework. It is the line integral of the force of gravity over the path, considered positive if...
3.9K
01:28Types of Non-structural Cracks in Concrete
479
Non-structural cracks are primarily of three types: plastic, early-age thermal, and drying shrinkage cracks. Plastic cracks are further classified into plastic shrinkage cracks and plastic settlement cracks.
Plastic shrinkage cracks typically form within hours after the concrete is poured. The concrete's surface dries faster than the bottom, creating tensile stress that the still-plastic concrete cannot withstand, leading to diagonal or randomly patterned cracks on the concrete surface.
Plastic shrinkage cracks typically form within hours after the concrete is poured. The concrete's surface dries faster than the bottom, creating tensile stress that the still-plastic concrete cannot withstand, leading to diagonal or randomly patterned cracks on the concrete surface.
479
01:06Body Planes
31.0K
Body planes in anatomy are imaginary flat surfaces used as reference points to divide the body into sections for anatomical study. These planes are essential for understanding the orientation, relationships, and spatial organization of anatomical structures.
The sagittal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ vertically into right and left sides. If this vertical plane runs directly down the middle of the body resulting in equal division, it is called the midsagittal or median...
The sagittal plane is the plane that divides the body or an organ vertically into right and left sides. If this vertical plane runs directly down the middle of the body resulting in equal division, it is called the midsagittal or median...
31.0K
01:18Transformation of Plane Stress
698
Studying stress transformation is essential in understanding how stress components within a material, like a cube under plane stress, change with rotation. This change is analyzed by considering a prismatic element within the cube. As the element rotates, the stress components acting on it—both normal and shearing stresses—change in magnitude and orientation. This change is quantified using trigonometric functions of the rotation angle, relating the forces acting on the rotated element's...
698
01:30Plane Electromagnetic Waves I
4.9K
The existence of combined electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space as electromagnetic (EM) waves is the most significant prediction of Maxwell's equations. As Maxwell's equations hold in free space, the predicted electromagnetic waves do not require a medium for their propagation. An EM wave comprises an electric field, defined as the force per charge on a stationary charge, and a magnetic field, which is the force per charge on a moving charge.
The EM field is assumed to be a...
The EM field is assumed to be a...
4.9K
01:29Plane Electromagnetic Waves II
4.0K
Consider a plane wavefront traveling in position x-direction with a constant speed. This wavefront can be utilized to obtain the relationship between electric and magnetic fields with the help of Faraday's law.
4.0K