In past decade, wearable sensors for monitoring physical parameters, like heart-rate, temperature etc. have been successfully demonstrated. However, obtaining complete health information requires continuous chemical monitoring of the body in addition to measuring the physical parameters. At present only blood analyzers are available to measure these chemicals. Wearable sensors that can perform continuous non-invasive monitoring of vital chemical biomarkers are thus highly desired, yet missing.[1] Furthermore, an important criterion for any wearable device is the ability to withstand extreme mechanical deformations usually encountered during daily bodily movements. Another important issue hindering the viability of printed electronics for wearable applications is their susceptibility to failure when experiencing stress beyond permissible levels. The Nanobioelectronics Laboratory at UC San Diego is working towards addressing these important challenges. Building up on nearly 3 decades of experience in the field of electrochemical devices, we have recently demonstrated easy-to-use wearable temporary tattoo based electrochemical sensors for monitoring of vital chemicals directly on the human skin without the need for blood sampling.[2] Particularly, we have developed a non-invasive glucose sensor that is expected to be a boon for millions of diabetics. The tattoo platform has also been utilized for monitoring lactate, Na+, pH and NH4+ as indicators of physical stress. In order to address the challenge of mechanical stress, we have developed electrochemical sensors that can withstand stretching deformations up to 100% with minimal effect on their sensing ability. In order to address the challenge of stress-induced device failure, we have developed specially engineered printable bio-mimicking inks that can be used to fabricate electrochemical sensors that self-heal upon mechanical damage. Finally, our group is also actively involved in developing wearable biofuel cells that can generate electricity from human sweat for powering wearable devices. The oral presentation will be designed to give the audience an “easy-to-understand” summary of some of the most important milestones achieved by our group and will also provide a sneak-peak of our present and future research goals in the field of wearable electrochemical devices. References: A. J. Bandodkar and J. Wang, Trends Biotechnol. 2014, 32, 363. A. J. Bandodkar et al., Electroanalysis 2015, 27, 562.

All-printed wearable electrochemical sensors and biofuel cells

251st National Meeting (2016)

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