In Japan, created a flexible bandage, signaling a fever

The University of Tokyo has created an alarm armband, a flexible device that triggers an alarm when a high body temperature is detected. This armband will be presented at the International Conference on Solid State Schemes in San Francisco, which will be held February 22-26, 2015. Flexible organic components continuously monitor key vital signs, including temperature and heart rate, for use in health care.

The new device, developed by Professor Takayasu Sakuray’s research group at the Institute of Industrial Science and Professor Takaeo Somey at the Higher Engineering School, combines a flexible amorphous silicon solar cell, a piezoelectric loudspeaker, a temperature sensor, and an electrical supply circuit created from organic components in one flexible, portable one.

Continuous monitoring of medical indicators, such as heart rate and body temperature, is subject to increased interest in caring for the sick. Sensors must be flexible and wireless for comfort, unattended and not requiring external power, and also reasonably cheap. Conventional sensors based on solid components do not meet these requirements, so the researchers created a flexible solution that includes organic components that can be printed with an inkjet printer on a polymeric material.

“Our armband demonstrates that flexible, affordable devices can be produced that can significantly increase the amount of information available to caregivers in health care settings,” says Professor Somey. “We have demonstrated technology with a temperature sensor and fever alarm, but the system can also be adapted to combine it with other sensors to register humidity, pressure or heart rate.”