Low-cost, μm-thick, tape-free electronic tattoo sensors with minimized motion and sweat artifacts

Abstract

Flexible electronics: cutting plotters cut costs of electronic tattoos Tattoos able to record heart rate and skin conditions have been fabricated with a low-cost cutting plotter. An international collaboration led by YongAn Huang and Nanshu Lu from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and the University of Texas at Austin, USA, have used this tool—a computer-controlled knife commonly employed to cut paper, vinyl and other materials in custom shapes—to define metallic serpentines on a plastic layer deposited on tattoo paper. The layer is so thin—about one thousandth of a millimeter—that the whole device is imperceptible when transferred on the skin, yet it adheres perfectly without blocking normal perspiration. Applied to human chest, these inexpensive metallic sensors monitor key health parameters, such as skin temperature and heart electric signal, without being affected by sweat and motion artefacts.