Flexible E-Skin Display Is Thinner Than Saran Wrap And Tracks Blood Oxygen Levels

Like the movie starring Justin Timberlake, “In Time”, having “clock-radio” style numbers on your skin might not seem a little desirable. However flashing digits are the proof of concept for a new type of electronic skin.

Known as "e-skins" in theory could be used for everything from monitoring vital signs to giving a whole new meaning to “wearable electronics”.

Tons of scientists are working on so-called smart skins. The concept is to package electronic sensors into a micro-thin, extremely flexible material - so thin and flexible that the user could wear it like a temporary tattoo. Recently, a group of scientists even made a functional smart skin out of office supplies, such as Post-it notes and foil, showing that the whisper-thin electronic sensors need not be made from expensive materials.

The ultimate goal being creating smart skins that include display screens: hence allowing hospitals keep track of the vital signs of their patients with a stick-on patch. And in your day-to-day life, you could have the capabilities of a smart watch in the palm of your hand - or wherever else you wanted them.

"The advent of mobile phones has changed the way we communicate. While these communication tools are getting smaller and smaller, they are still discrete devices that we have to carry with us," study author Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo said in a statement. "What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease? In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate."

The best part about this new skin is longevity: Unlike most skins, most skins can only last just a few hours, however, the prototype worked for more than 24 hours. Mostly due to the University of Tokyo team who created a protective coating to keep air & water vapour out of the skin’s sensitive inner workings. Reports also say that the PLEDs (polymer light-emitting diodes) that create the skin's displays are more efficient than those produced previously.

The entire package is just 3 micrometres thick, which is thinner than some spider webs & less than 1/10 the width of human hair.

The skin only displays blood oxygen levels for now, but which is done by measuring light as it passes through the body. Hence, a light-emitting skin is needed to be stuck to the finger to read blood oxygen levels, and the results will display on a larger smart skin display.

"The formation of [an] ultrathin and flexible passivation layer is a challenging task," Hyunhyub Ko of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology told Live Science. "Their fabrication process includes the solution coating and chemical vapour deposition methods, and thus can be scaled up for commercial products."

It may be a while before smart skins make it into your local hospital - or onto your body. But in a world where we're increasingly attached to our electronic devices, fusing directly to the technology seems kind of inevitable.