Stretchable Strain Sensor with Small but Sufficient Adhesion to Skin

Takaaki Nishikawa; Hisaya Yamane; Naoji Matsuhisa; Norihisa Miki

doi:10.3390/s23041774

Stretchable Strain Sensor with Small but Sufficient Adhesion to Skin

Takaaki Nishikawa, Hisaya Yamane, Naoji Matsuhisa, Norihisa Miki

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Stretchable strain sensors that use a liquid metal (eutectic gallium–indium alloy; E-GaIn) and flexible silicone rubber (Ecoflex) as the support and adhesive layers, respectively, are demonstrated. The flexibility of Ecoflex and the deformability of E-GaIn enable the sensors to be stretched by 100%. Ecoflex gel has sufficiently large adhesion force to skin, even though the adhesion force is smaller than that for commercially available adhesives. This enables the sensor to be used for non-invasive monitoring of human motion. The mechanical and electrical properties of the sensor are experimentally evaluated. The effectiveness of the proposed sensors is demonstrated by monitoring joint movements, facial expressions, and respiration.

Original language	English
Article number	1774
Journal	Sensors
Volume	23
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/s23041774
Publication status	Published - 2023 Feb

Keywords

adhesion
flexible sensor
human motion
liquid metal
silicone rubber
strain sensor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry
Information Systems
Instrumentation
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Biochemistry

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10.3390/s23041774

Cite this

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title = "Stretchable Strain Sensor with Small but Sufficient Adhesion to Skin",

abstract = "Stretchable strain sensors that use a liquid metal (eutectic gallium–indium alloy; E-GaIn) and flexible silicone rubber (Ecoflex) as the support and adhesive layers, respectively, are demonstrated. The flexibility of Ecoflex and the deformability of E-GaIn enable the sensors to be stretched by 100%. Ecoflex gel has sufficiently large adhesion force to skin, even though the adhesion force is smaller than that for commercially available adhesives. This enables the sensor to be used for non-invasive monitoring of human motion. The mechanical and electrical properties of the sensor are experimentally evaluated. The effectiveness of the proposed sensors is demonstrated by monitoring joint movements, facial expressions, and respiration.",

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author = "Takaaki Nishikawa and Hisaya Yamane and Naoji Matsuhisa and Norihisa Miki",

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AU - Nishikawa, Takaaki

AU - Yamane, Hisaya

AU - Matsuhisa, Naoji

AU - Miki, Norihisa

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by JST CREST Grant Number JPMJCR19A2, Japan. Part of this work was supported by JST PRESTO Grant Number JPMJPR20B7. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - Stretchable strain sensors that use a liquid metal (eutectic gallium–indium alloy; E-GaIn) and flexible silicone rubber (Ecoflex) as the support and adhesive layers, respectively, are demonstrated. The flexibility of Ecoflex and the deformability of E-GaIn enable the sensors to be stretched by 100%. Ecoflex gel has sufficiently large adhesion force to skin, even though the adhesion force is smaller than that for commercially available adhesives. This enables the sensor to be used for non-invasive monitoring of human motion. The mechanical and electrical properties of the sensor are experimentally evaluated. The effectiveness of the proposed sensors is demonstrated by monitoring joint movements, facial expressions, and respiration.

AB - Stretchable strain sensors that use a liquid metal (eutectic gallium–indium alloy; E-GaIn) and flexible silicone rubber (Ecoflex) as the support and adhesive layers, respectively, are demonstrated. The flexibility of Ecoflex and the deformability of E-GaIn enable the sensors to be stretched by 100%. Ecoflex gel has sufficiently large adhesion force to skin, even though the adhesion force is smaller than that for commercially available adhesives. This enables the sensor to be used for non-invasive monitoring of human motion. The mechanical and electrical properties of the sensor are experimentally evaluated. The effectiveness of the proposed sensors is demonstrated by monitoring joint movements, facial expressions, and respiration.

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KW - human motion

KW - liquid metal

KW - silicone rubber

KW - strain sensor

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Stretchable Strain Sensor with Small but Sufficient Adhesion to Skin

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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