Stretchable composite acoustic transducer for wearable monitoring of vital signs
File(s)adfm.201910288.pdf (1.74 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A highly flexible, stretchable, and mechanically robust low‐cost soft composite consisting of silicone polymers and water (or hydrogels) is reported. When combined with conventional acoustic transducers, the materials reported enable high performance real‐time monitoring of heart and respiratory patterns over layers of clothing (or furry skin of animals) without the need for direct contact with the skin. The approach enables an entirely new method of fabrication that involves encapsulation of water and hydrogels with silicones and exploits the ability of sound waves to travel through the body. The system proposed outperforms commercial, metal‐based stethoscopes for the auscultation of the heart when worn over clothing and is less susceptible to motion artefacts. The system both with human and furry animal subjects (i.e., dogs), primarily focusing on monitoring the heart, is tested; however, initial results on monitoring breathing are also presented. This work is especially important because it is the first demonstration of a stretchable sensor that is suitable for use with furry animals and does not require shaving of the animal for data acquisition.
Date Issued
2020-04-20
Date Acceptance
2020-01-31
Citation
Advanced Functional Materials, 2020, 30 (16), pp.1-7
ISSN
1616-301X
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
1
End Page
7
Journal / Book Title
Advanced Functional Materials
Volume
30
Issue
16
Copyright Statement
©2020 The Authors published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.201910288
Grant Number
207687/Z/17/Z
Subjects
Stretchable and flexible materials
wearable devices
heart and respiration monitoring
wireless acoustic sensors
wearables for humans and animals
Science
Technology
Transducers
Wireless Technology
Vital Signs
Heart Rate Determination
Heart Rate
Heart Sounds
Dogs
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 1910288
Date Publish Online
2020-02-25