When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Pressure is a basic force in our lives. We complain about being under too much of it — to meet a deadline, to pass a test, to pay the bills — you name it. In physics, however, pressure is simply the ratio of force to the area over which that force is applied. Measuring pressure renders useful information for many industrial, technological, scientific, and electronic and health applications. The measurements are incorporated into a variety of medical devices, and touch screens are becoming common.
Many screens and other highly sensitive touch and pressure sensors use a combination of electrical resistance and capacitance approaches, including projected capacitance, which actually uses skin conductivity as one of its components. Pressure-sensing elements are pixelated: x and y coordinates correspond to a position on a grid, which is formed by overlaying two isolated layers of parallel multi-electrode conductors, positioned at a 90 degree angle to each other.
The thin and flexible electronics used for touch and pressure applications can be made from a variety of polymer materials, such as piezoelectric polymers (PVDF, polyvinylidene fluoride) or conducting polymers (PP, polypyrrole), thin films of silicon, or metal oxides (Indium tin oxide), and can also contain nanomaterials such as silver or carbon nanotubes and nanocoatings.
Practical Applications
The mechanics of touch detection and signal processing are available to users of smartphones, and many other tactile and pressure sensors can provide computerized output of applied pressure. For example, the Tekscan pressure measurement system uses electrical resistance measurements to calculate pressure. The versatile system can measure a wide range of pressure from light (0-15 kPa) to heavy (up to 175 MPa). Its tactile sensors are thin (0.1mm) and flexible, printed in a grid pattern with conductive ink on polyester sheets. Individual electrical contacts are generated in the intersections when pressure is applied to the sensor. The more force applied to the sensor, the stronger the electrical connection. The electrical information is converted into pressure data, which is displayed in real time and can be quantitatively analyzed in a graphical format. Tekscan pressure sensors are used for a wide range of applications, starting with occlusion mapping in dentistry, and going to the evaluation of crash test data or the design of ergonomic seats.
Pressure sensors can be certainly wearable, and the ones from Heapsylon are even knit into fabrics and made into socks. Some think that digital health sensing clotheswill be the next big thing in wearable electronics, comfortable to wear and easy to care for. The Sensoria technology, used in pressure-measuring socks, has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek:
For people interested in wearable computing but uninterested in funny looking glasses or hypothetical wristwatches, there will soon be a new alternative: computerized socks. Heapsylon, a small startup based in Redmond, Wash., has developed socks it has dubbed Sensoria, after the part of the brain that coordinates the information coming in from your various sensory centers. They’re part of a growing class of devices lightweight enough to allow users to forget they’re wearing computers […].After a year of development, Heapsylon says it has developed a wearable computer you can throw in the washer and dryer. The company’s founders, two of whom come from Microsoft’s (MSFT) XBox Kinect department, claim that the fabric is soft and not scratchy.
The magic socks pair up with a Bluetooth-enabled anklet, which transmits the data to a smart phone. A Sensoria Fitness Socks Bundle just hit the market, with 4 pairs of socks, an anklet, a charger, and a mobile app for $199.
To make it even more exciting, the sock technology can be paired with Google Glass to let you run away from monsters in augmented reality as in this video.
In any case, pressure sensing technologies have definitely entered a new era … will it take any pressure off our shoulders? We’ll see …
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