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Category: wearables

Transistor ‘design limitation’ actually improves performance, scientists find

What many engineers once saw as a flaw in organic electronics could actually make these devices more stable and reliable, according to new research from the University of Surrey and Joanneum Research Materials.

The paper, which will be presented at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 2025, describes how embracing small energy barriers at the metal/semiconductor interface of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) can help them perform more consistently and operate more reliably over time.

Organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) are a key component of what are thought to be the next generation of flexible and wearable electronics. They are lightweight, low-cost and printable on large areas, but their long-term stability has been a persistent challenge.

From mind-controlling tech to clinical therapy

Researchers at the University of Geneva, together with colleagues in Switzerland, France, the United States and Israel, describe how optogenetic control of brain cells and circuits is already steering both indirect neuromodulatory therapies and first-in-human retinal interventions for blindness, while sketching the practical and ethical conditions needed for wider clinical use.

Optogenetic control uses light to impose temporally precise gain or loss of function in specific cell types, or even individual cells. Selected by location, connections, gene expression or combinations of these features, researchers now have an unprecedented way to investigate the brain within living animals.

Modern experiments range from implanted fiber optics to three-dimensional holographic illumination of defined neuronal ensembles and noninvasive wearable LEDs, with interventions that can run from milliseconds to chronic use and effect sizes that change rapidly with changes in light intensity.

Polarized light boosts accuracy of wearable health sensors for all skin tones

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an optical sensing technique that measures blood volume changes and underpins devices ranging from hospital-grade pulse oximeters to consumer wearables that track heart rate, sleep, and oxygenation.

Despite its widespread use, PPG accuracy can vary significantly across individuals, particularly by skin tone. Darker skin contains more melanin, which absorbs and scatters light, often leading to less reliable readings. This disparity has been linked to inaccuracies in blood-oxygen measurements among people with more melanin.

Iron-on electronic patches enable easy integration of circuits into fabrics

Iron-on patches can repair clothing or add personal flair to backpacks and hats. And now they could power wearable tech, too. Researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have combined liquid metal and a heat-activated adhesive to create an electrically conductive patch that bonds to fabric when heated with a hot iron. In demonstrations, circuits ironed onto a square of fabric lit up LEDs and attached an iron-on microphone to a button-up shirt.

“E-textiles and wearable electronics can enable diverse applications from health care and environmental monitoring to robotics and human-machine interfaces. Our work advances this exciting area by creating iron-on soft electronics that can be rapidly and robustly integrated into a wide range of fabrics,” says Michael D. Bartlett, a researcher at Virginia Tech and corresponding author on the study.

Wearable device offloads up to 90% of body armor weight, improving comfort and mobility

Vanderbilt researchers have developed a lightweight wearable device that shifts body armor weight off the shoulders and back of soldiers, helping reduce pain and injury risk.

A new study, “Wearable weight distribution devices for reducing injury risk: How varying amounts of body armor offloading affect biomechanics and comfort,” is published in the journal Applied Ergonomics.

The research study was led by Paul Slaughter, a recent Vanderbilt Ph.D. graduate, and Karl Zelik, associate professor of mechanical engineering. Slaughter and Zelik, in partnership with Vanderbilt senior research engineer Chad Ice, also filed a patent on this wearable weight distribution device.

Audio-augmented wearable aims to improve mindfulness, with possible benefits for those with anxiety and ADHD

A new device uses focused sound cues to keep users grounded amid digital distractions, with possible benefits for anxiety and ADHD as well.

The whisper of two palms rubbing together. The squeak of a marker on a whiteboard. The swish of fabric against fabric. The whoosh of a running faucet. These sounds can help center the mind on the present moment.

Such cues were the driving force of new research from Stanford’s SHAPE Lab and the Virtual Human Interaction Lab, which has created a new device they believe can improve mindfulness in an all-too-distracting digital world. The secret is that the keys to mindfulness have been right in front of our ears all along, hidden in the often subtle, overlooked audio cues that help ground us in the beauty and meaning of everyday experiences.

Beyond the Buzz: Tumor Treating Fields for Cancer

Tumor-treating fields (TTFields) are gaining traction as evidence expands beyond early enthusiasm, Medscape reports. Once considered experimental, TTFields are now supported by multiple randomized trials and are being tested across a growing list of solid tumors, positioning the therapy as a potential addition to standard cancer care in selected patients.

Here’s a look at how it works, the body of evidence, and the limitations.

Tumor treating fields use low intensity, alternating electric fields to disrupt cancer cell division.

The electric fields are generated by a wearable device — Optune Gio for glioblastoma and Optune Lua for pleural mesothelioma and NSCLC — developed and marketed by Switzerland-based oncology company Novocure.

Scalable thermal drawing method creates liquid metal fibers for wearable electronics

Over the past decades, many research teams worldwide have started working on electronic fibers. These are yarn-like components with electronic properties that can be weaved or assembled to create new innovative textile-based electronics, clothes or other wearable systems that can sense their surroundings, monitor specific physiological signals or perform other functions.

Electronic fibers typically contain both regions via which electric current can flow (i.e., conductive domains) and insulating regions that store electric charge (i.e., dielectric domains). Reliably arranging these domains into complex architectures to produce fibers with desired properties can be difficult and most previously introduced methods are difficult to implement on a large scale.

Researchers at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne recently demonstrated the potential of a scalable technique known as thermal drawing for creating highly performing, elastomer and liquid metal-based electronic fibers. This approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Electronics, allowed them to create electronic fibers that were successfully used to fabricate a new textile-based capacitive strain sensor.

Innovative materials boost stretchable digital displays’ performance

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) power the high-end screens of our digital world, from TVs and phones to laptops and game consoles.

If those displays could stretch to cover any 3D or irregular surfaces, the doors would be open for technologies like wearable electronics, medical implants and humanoid robots that integrate better with or mimic the soft human body.

“Displays are the intuitive application, but a stretchable OLED can also be used as the light source for monitoring, detection and diagnosis devices for diabetes, cancers, heart conditions and other major health problems,” said Wei Liu, a former postdoctoral researcher in the lab of University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) Assoc. Prof. Sihong Wang.

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