Researchers develop smart bandages with style

ElectroDermis is a wearable electronic bandage that is smart, soft, customisable, elastic and fully untethered

Spotted: Researchers at US-based Carnegie Mellon University have created attractive, elastic and smart bandages as wearable tech. ElectroDermis is different from other patch wearables due to its focus on being “functional and aesthetically pleasing,” the researchers say.

The team developed ElectroDermis as part of a mission to create a smart patch that people would want to wear. It is not the first patch of its kind, but its design and flexibility are unique, according to the researchers.

The smart bandages are elastic and fully untethered. That is possible due to the team’s use of a “fabrication system that simplifies the creation of wearable electronics.”  

The process starts by using a computer to design the patch to conform to a specific part of the body. The design is used as a model to cut layers for the patch. Each layer has a role in the patch’s capabilities. Some are used for electronic circuits, which include the sensors and microcontrollers. Other layers protect the circuit or serve as the adhesive layer for the skin. The layers are stacked and laminated into a single patch.

ElectroDermis is a joint project by researchers in the Morphing Matter Lab and the Soft Machines Lab at the university.