(Invited) Textile-based Electronic/fluidic Platforms Towards Wearable Diagnostic Sensor Systems

Abstract

The fields of flexible electronics and microfluidic-based labs-on-a-chip continue to advance, with new devices and systems-level technologies reported on a daily basis. However, much of this advancement is limited to each of these fields separately, rather than development of platforms for combining flexible electronics and microfluidics together to realize wearable sensors and sensor systems. We present new approaches for combining electronics and microfluidic devices together on wearable textile-based substrates, resulting in combined systems that are highly portable, mechanically flexible, and can be easily integrated with clothing. We develop polymer materials traditionally used for artistic designs on clothing for use as engineering materials, i.e., as the base polymer for conductive electronics that can be integrated with polymer microfluidic channels printed in the same materials. Unlike other techniques, our technologies and materials are highly compatible with clothing-based textiles, and result in non-polarizable electrodes for improved frequency response. Our platforms can be laundered, facilitating rugged wearable devices and systems for biomedical and environmental monitoring. Application areas for our flexible and wearable platforms include health care, worker safety, food safety, consumer devices, personalized medicine and biomedical and environmental monitoring. We present technologies for specific applications that include: lighting and health monitors for safety vests; heart and perspiration (pH, lactate) monitors for athletic clothing; and wearable bioelectric and biochemical monitoring.