Wearable electronics, and especially health-tracking devices, are of little use without specialized sensors. The ideal sensor should withstand active loads and remain invisible. Especially when it comes to sensors for tracking the emotional state of a person, which cannot be put on public display. In such a case, scientists have come up with an inconspicuous stress tracking sensor that is attached to the palm of your hand.
Image Source: University of Texas at Austin
Everyone knows that during stress, the palms tend to sweat, which changes the electrical resistance of the skin. This parameter is easy to measure and interpret, for example, using a smart watch. It is much more difficult to ensure the resistance of the sensor in the palm of the hand to destruction during the active activity of a person, when his hands are busy with work.
Graphene has become a real find for scientists in many fields. It is a thin, light, transparent and electrically conductive material with suitable strength properties. A research team at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, like their colleagues, used graphene to create a reliable electronic tattoo that monitors a person’s stress level.
The overlay handheld sensor – “e-tattoo”, as its developers called it – consists of two serpentine ribbons, each of which consists of two partially overlapping layers: a longer graphene ribbon and a short gold ribbon, the near side of which is connected via an interface to smart devices. hours. In fact, a transparent graphene tape runs across the entire palm, which is not visible even upon close examination and which can withstand significant loads. Such sensors can be worn in everyday life and not draw attention to the emotional problems of patients.
“It’s so subtle that people sometimes forget they’re [датчики] they are worn, and it also reduces the social vulnerability associated with wearing these devices in such prominent areas of the body,” said Nanshu Lu, professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and project leader.
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