Pushing the Prosthetic Boundary

Two major research groups have made advancements in the area of creating a working and effective artificial replacement of the human skin. Such progress can finally aid developers to create a prosthetic that can imitate the functions of a living skin. The technology both contains a grid of sensors that can register pressure to a few kilopascals. However, the two research groups approach the idea in different methods. The first group is from the University of California Berkeley. Their process involves layering large pads with nanowire-based transistors that can measure a slight change in the electrical attributes as pressure is applied. This method can detect pressures ranging from 0 to 15 kilopascals, which is the range of pressure that humans encounter in everyday life. In addition, this design is extremely flexible allowing it to be contorted over 2,000 times yet it still functions like normal. On the other side, a research group at Stanford University has developed the same idea but used a different approach. They incorporated transistor into a rubber layer trapping air as a result. As the air is displaced due to pressure, the capacitance changes and as a result the current changes will send signals that pressure is applied. Just like the product developed in Berkeley, certain attributes of the design must be accounted for, like flexibility. The Stanford design of using trapped air improved the rubber layer’s resilience. After tests, the Stanford model can record pressures from 0 to 18 kilopascals.

Both models demonstrate advancement in medical technology. Although there are still many problems such as how to integrate the signals produced by the sensors to the brain so sense can be detected though touch and scaling the sizes of the micro sensors for practical use, this concept has many directions in which it can be beneficial to human welfare, not just health wise.

This article was interesting to me because it signals another milestone in prosthetic and medical technology. The use of mechanical replacement is everywhere but the development of something that can mimic the skin is incredible. This can change how prosthetic can interact with their hosts because actual senses can be restored back to patients. Not only that but the range of use for this is really widespread.

Source

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=electronic-skin

Angdi Liu