Medical Design Briefs - April 2023 - 25

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University of Missouri researchers have created an ultrasoft " skin-like " material for use in the development
of an on-skin, wearable bioelectronic device capable of simultaneously tracking multiple
vital signs such as blood pressure, electrical heart activity and skin hydration. (Credit: mr. teerapon
tiuekhom/Shutterstock)
Made from a liquid-metal elastomer
composite, the material's key feature is
its skin-like soft properties.
" It is ultrasoft and ultra-stretchable, so
when the device is worn on the human
body, it will be mechanically imperceptible
to the user, " Yan says. " You cannot feel it,
and you will likely forget about it. This is
because people can feel about 20 kilopascals
or more of pressure when something
is stretched on their skin, and this material
creates less pressure than that. "
Its integrated antibacterial and antiviral
properties can also help prevent
harmful pathogens from forming on the
surface of the skin underneath the device
during extended use.
" We call it a mechanical and electrical
decoupling, so when the material is
stretched, there is only a small change in
the electrical performance during human
motion, and the device can still record
high-quality biological signals from
the human body, " Yan says.
While other researchers have worked
on similar designs for liquid-metal elastomer
composites, Yan says the MU team
has a novel approach because the breathable
" porous " material they developed
can prevent the liquid metal from leaking
out when the material is stretched as
the human body moves.
The work builds on the team's existing
proof of concept, as demonstrated by
their previous work including a heart
monitor currently under development.
Medical Design Briefs, April 2023
In the future, Yan hopes the biological
data gathered by the device could be
wirelessly transmitted to smartphone or
similar electronics for future sharing
with medical professionals.
" Porous liquid metal-elastomer composites
with high leakage resistance and
antimicrobial
property for
skininterfaced
bioelectronics " was published
in Science Advances, a journal of the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science (AAAS). Co-authors on
the study include Yadong Xu, Yajuan Su,
Xianchen Xu, Brian Arends, Ganggang
Zhao, Daniel Ackerman, Henry Huang,
St. Patrick Reid, Joshua Santarpia, Chansong
Kim, Zehua Chen, Sana Mahmoud,
Yun Ling, Alexander Brown, Qian Chen,
Guoliang Huang and Jingwei Xe.
This study was supported by grants
from the National Science Foundation
(2149721), Office of Naval Research
(FA9550-21-1-0226), National
Institute of General Medical Sciences
(P30GM127200), National Institute of
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin
Diseases (R21AR080906), and the Air
Force Office of Scientific Research (AF
9550-20-1-0279 and AFOSR FA9550-20-10257).
The content is solely the responsibility
of the authors and does not necessarily
represent the official views of the
funding agencies.
Contact: Eric Stann, 573-882-3346,
StannE@missouri.edu. For more information,
visit https://showme.missouri.edu.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
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Medical Design Briefs - April 2023

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