New Electronic Skin Research Breakthrough Could Help Detect Touch and Temperature

Jul 10, 2013

A team of scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, discovered how to make a new kind of flexible sensor that could be 10 times more sensitive in touch than the currently existing electronic skin systems. They achieved this by using tiny gold particles and a kind of resin to make a flexible senor that one day could be integrated into electronic skin, or e-skin. The flexible sensors allow the artificial skin to detect touch, humidity and temperature as well. This recent development is a breakthrough in the efforts to build better e-skin over the years, as this “can simultaneously sense touch, humidity, and temperature, as real skin can do,” says research team leader Professor Hossam Haick. Dr. Nir Peled, Head of the Thoracic Cancer Research and Detection Center at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center said that ” the sensor is very stable and can be attached to any surface shape while keeping the function stable.” That setup allows the device to run off of common low-voltage batteries as well, an important trait to help it make its way into mainstream society, and eventually help to bringing a sense of touch to artificial limbs. Visit the source link after the break for more information for more information.