Home » News » Touching Advancement: Soft E-Skin Communicates Sensory Information to the Brain

Touching Advancement: Soft E-Skin Communicates Sensory Information to the Brain

(Image Credit Google)
(Image credit- Yahoo Finance) A breakthrough in touching has been made via soft electronic skin that communicates with the brain directly. Engineers have been working to develop artificial electronic skin that mimics the remarkable sensory capabilities of human touch; the results of their work include soft, flexible materials that reproduce specific senses. But up until this point, they have not been able to create even a single sheet of skin-like material that can communicate with the brain in this way. By developing soft integrated circuits that transform perceived pressure or temperature into electrical signals that are akin to nerve impulses for direct contact with the brain, a team of researchers from Stanford University has broken through this barrier. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1260"]Revolutionary soft e-skin transmits brain-compatible signals Image credit- Tech Explorist[/caption]

Application Possibilities

The researchers imagine a future in which these impulses may be sent to wireless communication chips implanted in peripheral nerves, which has a huge array of possible applications. This would revolutionize the quality of life for amputees by allowing them to manipulate artificial limbs. Additionally, the development of cutting-edge implantable or wearable medical devices is hopeful for this technology. The team's main objective was to develop a soft integrated circuit that mimics the workings of low-voltage sensory receptors. The team's initial attempts required high voltages that exceeded 30 volts and fell short of achieving the needed circuit performance. The team's new e-skin, however, uses merely 5 volts and accurately detects impulses similar to those found on real skin. Future prosthetic limbs will greatly benefit from the development of artificial skin. Modern prosthetic limbs rely heavily on artificial skin because it not only restores mobility and grasping abilities but also provides crucial sensory feedback for accurate device control. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Researchers Invent E-skin That 'Talks' to the Brain - Neuroscience News Image credit- Neuroscience News[/caption] To do this, the sensory-skin material must be exceptionally resilient, able to stretch and rebound without losing its electrical capabilities. To solve this problem, scientists created a tri-layer dielectric structure, which dramatically improved electrical charge carrier mobility and outperformed single-layer dielectrics by a factor of 30. Also read: Human-Food Interaction Technologies Carry Lot of Possibilities Notably, this structure uses nitrile, the same material used in medical gloves, in one of its layers. MIT engineers created wireless, skin-like sensors that can be worn for health monitoring.

E-Skin

Organic nanostructures are incorporated into skin-like layers that make up the majority of the e-skin. These networks can be configured to sense pressure, temperature, strain, and chemicals while still maintaining their signal transmission capability. According to scientists, the device successfully combines sensory, desirable electrical, and mechanical characteristics of human skin into a robust and pliable form. With this advancement, a lifelike sense of touch will be possible with cutting-edge human-machine interfaces and future prosthetic skins. Bao, Wang, and his team began a second phase after finishing their prototype with the goal of increasing the technology's complexity and scalability.  

By Monica Green

I am specialised in latest tech and tech discoveries.

RELATED NEWS

Image credit : Hackster.io ...

news-extra-space

(Image credit- Technology Networks) Researchers...

news-extra-space

(Image credit- Tech Crunch) Virtual reality (VR...

news-extra-space

(Image credit- Science Blog) With thousands of ...

news-extra-space

(Image credit- Gulf News) The public is now bei...

news-extra-space

(Image credit- Tech Times) According to the rep...

news-extra-space
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10