US DOE and University of Chicago are working on a skin-like device.
A device might be able to identify potential new health issues.
Using technology to analyse collected health data in a customised way.

Researchers are working to create skin-like electronics that use artificial intelligence to identify any potential emerging health issues. Flexible, wearable electronics are becoming more and more common, yet they still have not realised their full potential.

This method might soon make it possible to apply fine medical sensors to the skin for health monitoring and diagnosis. It would be like always having access to a cutting-edge hospital. The University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are working together to develop a device that resembles skin (PME).

The study's principal investigator is Sihong Wang, an assistant professor in the PME department at the University of Chicago who also holds a joint appointment with Argonne's Nanoscience and Technology division.

Future health conditions like heart disease, cancer, or multiple sclerosis may be detected even before overt symptoms appear thanks to wearable devices. The device could lessen the need for wireless transmission in addition to customising the analysis of the tracked health data.

The diagnosis for the same health parameters may differ depending on the patient's age, medical history, and other characteristics, Wang continued. Even the most advanced smartwatches on the market today are unable to gather and analyse the volume of data that such a device would require. It would also need to process data in a very constrained space and with very little power.

To fulfil that requirement, the researchers resorted to neuromorphic computing. This AI system mimics how the brain functions by utilising historical data sets and experience-based learning. Its advantages include being energy-efficient, working with stretchy materials, and operating more swiftly than other forms of AI.

Another key challenge faced by the researchers was fitting the electronics inside a flexible material that resembled skin. A semiconductor is a necessary component of any electronic device. In contemporary rigid electronics used in computers and cell phones, this is frequently a solid silicon chip. A semiconductor for stretchable electronics must be built of a material that is both extremely flexible and electrically conductive.

The flexible gold nanowire electrodes and a thin plastic semiconductor layer make up the team's skin-like neuromorphic 'chip.' Their gadget performed as intended even when stretched to two times its regular size without developing any cracks. The group developed an AI tool and taught it to distinguish between four different electrocardiogram (ECG) signals that are suggestive of health problems and healthy signals for one test. After considerable practise, the system was able to identify ECG signals with an accuracy of more than 95%.

At the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science user facility at Argonne, the plastic semiconductor was also subjected to examination on beamline 8-ID-E. The skin-like device material's molecules restructure upon doubling in length, as demonstrated by exposure to a strong X-ray beam. In order to comprehend the material qualities better, these results gave molecular-level information.