Electronic skin tattoo has medical, gaming, spy uses
Aug 11 03:43 PM US/Eastern



This image courtesy of J. Rogers, University of Illinois shows an epidermal...

A hair-thin electronic patch that adheres to the skin like a temporary tattoo could transform medical sensing, computer gaming and even spy operations, according to a US study published Thursday.
The micro-electronics technology, called an epidermal electronic system (EES), was developed by an international team of researchers from the United States, China and Singapore, and is described in the journal Science.

"It's a technology that blurs the distinction between electronics and biology," said co-author John Rogers, a professor in materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Our goal was to develop an electronic technology that could integrate with the skin in a way that is mechanically and physiologically invisible to the user."

The patch could be used instead of bulky electrodes to monitor brain, heart and muscle tissue activity and when placed on the throat it allowed users to operate a voice-activated video game with better than 90 percent accuracy.

"This type of device might provide utility for those who suffer from certain diseases of the larynx," said Rogers. "It could also form the basis of a sub-vocal communication capability, suitable for covert or other uses."

The wireless device is nearly weightless and requires so little power it can fuel itself with miniature solar collectors or by picking up stray or transmitted electromagnetic radiation, the study said.

Less than 50-microns thick -- slightly thinner than a human hair -- the devices are able to adhere to the skin without glue or sticky material. "Forces called van der Waals interactions dominate the adhesion at the molecular level, so the electronic tattoos adhere to the skin without any glues and stay in place for hours," said the study.

Northwestern University engineer Yonggang Huang said the patch was "as soft as the human skin." Rogers and Huang have been working together on the technology for the past six years. They have already designed flexible electronics for hemispherical camera sensors and are now focused on adding battery power and other energy options.

The devices might find future uses in patients with sleep apnea, babies who need neonatal care and for making electronic bandages to help skin heal from wounds and burns.

Source -- http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.6e1e2ad90e2d94b12b6258b7e9c5b33d.611&show_article=1

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How computers will soon get under our skin

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A stick-on circuit can monitor heart rate as well as conventional devices, but is weightless, wireless and inconspicuous

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

Friday, 12 August 2011


AP

The patch of electronic skin consists of an array of electrical devices for monitoring the vital signs of the body


It may soon be possible to wear your computer or mobile phone under your sleeve, with the invention of an ultra-thin and flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo.

Click HERE to view graphic (87k jpg)

The devices, which are almost invisible, can perform just as well as more conventional electronic machines but without the need for wires or bulky power supplies, scientists said.

The development could mark a new era in consumer electronics. The technology could be used for applications ranging from medical diagnosis to covert military operations.


The "epidermal electronic system" relies on a highly flexible electrical circuit composed of snake-like conducting channels that can bend and stretch without affecting performance. The circuit is about the size of a postage stamp, is thinner than a human hair and sticks to the skin by natural electrostatic forces rather than glue.

"We think this could be an important conceptual advance in wearable electronics, to achieve something that is almost unnoticeable to the wearer. The technology can connect you to the physical world and the cyberworld in a very natural way that feels comfortable," said Professor Todd Coleman of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research team.

A simple stick-on circuit can monitor a person's heart rate and muscle movements as well as conventional medical monitors, but with the benefit of being weightless and almost completely undetectable. Scientists said it may also be possible to build a circuit for detecting throat movements around the larynx in order to transmit the information wirelessly as a way of recording a person's speech, even if they are not making any discernible sounds.

Tests have already shown that such a system can be used to control a voice-activated computer game, and one suggestion is that a stick-on voicebox circuit could be used in covert police operations where it might be too dangerous to speak into a radio transmitter.

"The blurring of electronics and biology is really the key point here," said Yonggang Huang, professor of engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "All established forms of electronics are hard, rigid. Biology is soft, elastic. It's two different worlds. This is a way to truly integrate them."

Engineers have built test circuits mounted on a thin, rubbery substrate that adheres to the skin. The circuits have included sensors, light-emitting diodes, transistors, radio frequency capacitors, wireless antennas, conductive coils and solar cells.

"We threw everything in our bag of tricks on to that platform, and then added a few other new ideas on top of those, to show that we could make it work," said John Rogers, professor of engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a lead author of the study, published in the journal Science.



Source -- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-computers-will-soon-get-under-our-skin-2336246.html

From M.o.1 -- I always knew that this genre of "microchipping" would start w/ a small minority such as the gaming community before it became common place in society. They have already been training the people to get used to having everything contained on a small device in order to make life much easier to handle. That thing is called your cell phone. Notice that they have gotten more sophisticated over the years not to mention the tracking capabilities of the phone itself. They are fitted w/ GPS so that you can be tracked in real time and this is nothing more than training to be tracked all the time through a GPS microchip that will be implanted in your arm. This is the plan and guys like Aaron Russo was told this firsthand by the Rockefellar family a long time ago..........slowly we are seeing this grid of control coming into play.