A Second Skin

For a wearable biomedical device to be comfortable and practical, it should provide a seamless ‘second skin’ for the patient. To do so the device must move with the body, emulating the elasticity of skin. This has sparked a lot of interest in thin, film-like materials, and has led to a new breed of biocompatible electronics with controllable flexibility. Such materials are highly elastic, and consist of a spiral network interweaved through a gel-like substance – as pictured. The spiral symmetry allows the material to be stretched evenly in all directions – mimicking the stretching properties of skin – although subtle changes to the structure can tweak the elasticity, adapting it for different patches of skin, and even different organs. These composite materials are a step forward in tissue engineering and could be used to create both wearable and fully implanted biomedical devices in the future.

Written by Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas

Writer

Currently at Warwick University, Helen is working towards a chemistry doctorate in nanomaterials. However her scientific interests remain broad, and she enjoys exploring these different areas as a writer for the University paper.

• Image by John Rogers and colleagues
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in Nature Communications, March 2015