Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: wearables – Page 2

Polar molecules and polymer bridges overcome two key limits in organic electronics

A research team led by Professor Kang Bosoek of the SKKU Advanced Institute of Nano Technology (SAINT), Department of Nano Engineering and Department of Semiconductor Convergence Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University has developed two new molecular design technologies to enhance the electrical conductivity of organic electronic materials. One technology generates a greater number of charge carriers within a polymer, while the other connects transport pathways so that charge can move without interruption.

The findings were published, respectively, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Nature Communications. The paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society was also selected as a cover article.

Organic semiconductors are lightweight and flexible materials expected to be used in next-generation displays, wearable electronics and sensors. However, for practical use in electronic devices, their electrical conductivity must be improved—which requires generating a sufficient amount of charge and ensuring that the charge, once generated, can move rapidly through the material. Through two separate studies, the research team addressed these two challenges in a complementary way.

AI, Quantum Computing, Nanotech Convergence Reshapes Innovation

Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nanotechnology are converging to reshape innovation — and organizations that understand how to harness them could gain a competitive edge.

That’s according to Chuck Brooks, president of Brooks Consulting International and one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts, in a recent piece exploring how the technologies are transforming research and development while accelerating advances in healthcare, cybersecurity, defense and other industries.

Brooks highlights AI’s role in accelerating R&D, nanotechnology’s potential in wearables and sensors, and quantum computing’s ability to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

Sorting Results of Unknown SignificanceA Framework for Clinicians Navigating Wearable Data in the AI Era JAMA Network

This Perspective outlines a framework for clinicians navigating physiologic data from wearable devices, referred to as “results of unknown significance,” including the need for universal evidentiary standards and shared language.

Prototype glasses can turn infrared into color vision

The human eye, as good as it is, misses out on so much of the world because it is limited in what it can perceive. It can’t see X-rays, ultraviolet rays or infrared light. While X-ray goggles are still the stuff of science fiction, we may be moving closer to wearable glasses that make infrared light look almost like everyday vision. Scientists at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a device that transforms infrared light into a full-color visible image.

Human eyes cannot see infrared because infrared photons don’t have enough energy to trigger our retinas. Night-vision goggles and thermal cameras help, but they tend to show the world in one color, usually grainy green or black-and-white.

What this team has done is develop a technology that converts invisible infrared into multiple colors based on its wavelength and intensity. And because the eye is good at telling colors apart, the new technology allows people to distinguish subtle differences in infrared light much more easily than with traditional night-vision goggles. The researchers describe their work in a paper published in Science Advances.

Single patch merges multiple physiological signals for simpler health monitoring

Wearable health monitors have grown increasingly capable, but most are still limited by the fact that tracking different types of body signals requires separate sensors, each with its own circuitry and patch of skin. That leads to bulkier devices, higher power consumption and greater discomfort for anyone who needs round-the-clock monitoring.

A research team led by Assistant Professor Liu Yuxin from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS CDE), has developed a cross-modal skin sensor that overcomes this constraint.

Named X-Sig, the device fuses the body’s electrical impulses, such as heart rhythms and muscle signals, with its mechanical signals, such as pulse pressure waves and the forces generated by muscle contractions, into a single composite waveform transmitted through one channel.

Soft exosuit shows motor-free path to wearable walking assistance

Researchers in China have unveiled a new robotic exosuit driven entirely by soft artificial muscles instead of traditional motors. This technology could make it easier for older adults, injured patients or factory workers to walk with much less effort. Current exosuits that aid walking use heavy motors, gearboxes and noisy air-pressure pumps that restrict a person’s natural movement.

Soft muscles, on the other hand, are made of thin, flexible rubber fibers that behave more like human muscles and are considerably lighter, making it easier for people to move.

Details of the work are in a paper published in the journal Science Advances.

Molecules stop carbon nanotubes clumping, unlocking record heat-to-electricity performance

QUT researchers have overcome a challenge that has limited next-generation energy-harvesting materials for more than two decades, opening the door to more powerful wearable electronics and new ways of turning wasted heat into electricity. The breakthrough centers on carbon nanotubes, which are flexible, conductive microscopic rods that have long shown promise for wearable technologies but have been difficult to control.

QUT researchers have developed a new molecular strategy that prevents the nanotubes from clumping together and losing performance, enabling a new benchmark for materials that convert heat directly into electricity.

Lead author and QUT PhD researcher Shanshan Zhou said the work established a new way of tackling one of the biggest challenges facing carbon nanotubes.

/* */