Stick-On Electronic Patches for Health Monitoring

Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University have demonstrated the new product that incorporates commercial, off-the-shelf chip-based electronics for sophisticated wireless health monitoring.

The patches stick to the skin like a temporary tattoo and incorporate a unique microfluidic construction with wires folded like origami to allow the patch to bend and flex without being constrained by the rigid electronics components. The patches could be used for everyday health tracking -- wirelessly sending updates to your cellphone or computer -- and could revolutionize clinical monitoring such as EKG and EEG testing -- no bulky wires, pads or tape needed.

"We designed this device to monitor human health 24/7, but without interfering with a person's daily activity," Yonggang Huang, the Northwestern University professor who co-led the work with Illinois professor John A. Rogers said.

"It is as soft as human skin and can move with your body, but at the same time it has many different monitoring functions. What is very important about this device is it is wirelessly powered and can send high-quality data about the human body to a computer, in real time," he noted.

The researchers did a side-by-side comparison with traditional EKG and EEG monitors and found the wireless patch performed equally to conventional sensors, while being significantly more comfortable for patients. Such a distinction is crucial for long-term monitoring, situations such as stress tests or sleep studies when the outcome depends on the patient's ability to move and behave naturally, or for patients with fragile skin such as premature newborns.