Folding design leads to heart sensor with smaller profile
Drawing on the Japanese art of kirigami to contour to the human body to
better detect electrocardiographic signals

Date:
March 29, 2022
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Researchers want to leverage the centuries-old art of cutting paper,
kirigami, into designs to develop a sensor sheet that can stretch
and breathe with the skin while collecting electrocardiographic
data.

Scientists in Japan use cuts in a film made of polyethylene
terephthalate printed with silver electrodes to fit a sensor on a
person's chest to monitor his or her heart. At the optimal size
found, they were able to detect enough signal from the heart to
be used in a smartphone app.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
As advances in wearable devices push the amount of information they can
provide consumers, sensors increasingly have to conform to the contours
of the body.

One approach applies the principles of kirigami to give sensors the
added flexibility.


========================================================================== Researchers want to leverage the centuries-old art of cutting paper
into designs to develop a sensor sheet that can stretch and breathe with
the skin while collecting electrocardiographic data. In Applied Physics Reviews, by AIP Publishing, the sensor made by researchers in Japan uses
cuts in a film made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) printed with
silver electrodes to fit on a person's chest to monitor his or her heart.

"In terms of wearability, by applying kirigami structure in a PET film,
due to PET deformation and bending, the film can be stretchable, so
that the film can follow skin and body movement like a bandage," said
author Kuniharu Takei, from Osaka Prefecture University. "In addition,
since kirigami structure has physical holes in a PET film, skin can
be easily breathed through the holes." Unlike the related origami,
which involves strictly paper folding, the art of kirigami extends its
methods to paper cutting as well. Such a technique allows relatively
stiff materials, like PET, to adapt to their surfaces.

As companies push for less noticeable wearables, attention has turned
to optimizing picking out electrical signals from the heart out of
background noise. Devices like the group's that ensure a snugger fit
are an attractive solution.

The team found the optimal size of the sensor is roughly 200 square
millimeters with a distance of 1.5 centimeters between electrodes. At
that size, they were able to detect enough signal from the heart to be
used in a smartphone app.

"The major challenge was how to realize the kirigami structure without
using a precise alignment process between the silver electrodes and
kirigami cutting," Takei said.

Their device with the sensor could accurately and reliably relay heart
data across multiple people doing many types of everyday movements,
such as walking or working while seated in a chair.

The group next aims to integrate more sensors to measure multiple types
of data from the surface of the skin to help with early diagnosis of
disease, including future medical trials.

"We understand that the new mechanism or new material developments makes
better impact to the field," Takei said. "However, without improving
the stability, it cannot be used for the practical applications, even
if the sensor performance is excellent."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Institute_of_Physics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yan Xuan, Hyuga Hara, Satoko Honda, Yanpeng Li, Yusuke Fujita,
Takayuki
Arie, Seiji Akita, Kuniharu Takei. Wireless, minimized, stretchable,
and breathable electrocardiogram sensor system. Applied Physics
Reviews, 2022; 9 (1): 011425 DOI: 10.1063/5.0082863 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220329114651.htm

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