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 ...
The electronic sensors of the future might resemble stickers: peel them off, then stick them wherever they’re needed, whether used as contact lenses, or on skin or plant leaves — even wrapped around a hair. In fact, these amazing, lightweight electronics already are here!
Polymers are well-known for their flexibility, which makes them a first choice to support wearable electronics. See-through electronic circuits can be deposited on transparent polymer films. Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have designed and tested electronic circuits deposited on ultra-thin polymer films, which can be released from water-soluble support layers and reapplied elsewhere (similar to water-slide decal images). This is how the publication in Nature Communications describes them:
Electronics on very thin substrates have shown remarkable bendability, conformability and lightness, which are important attributes for biological tissues sensing, wearable or implantable devices. Here we propose a wafer-scale process scheme to realize ultra flexible, lightweight and transparent electronics on top of a 1-micron-thick parylene film that is released from the carrier substrate after the dissolution in water of a polyvinyl-alcohol layer. The thin substrate ensures extreme flexibility, which is demonstrated by transistors that continue to work when wrapped around human hairs […]Electronics can be transferred on any object, surface and on biological tissues like human skin and plant leaves. We foresee a potential application as smart contact lenses covered with light, transparent and flexible devices, which could serve to monitor intraocular pressure for glaucoma disease.The material selection for this flexible polymer support film is a good one for future biomedical applications: Parylene (vapor-deposited poly(p-xylylene) is an FDA-approved and widely accepted coating for stents, defibrillators, pacemakers, and other medical devices permanently implanted into the body. It acts as an excellent moisture barrier. It is biostable, biocompatible, homogeneous, impermeable to gas and water vapor, and pinhole-free. Thin film transistors (TFT) deposited on parylene supporting film continued to work even when wrapped around a human hair (as featured inphys.org).Polymers from the parylene family are a good example of “green,” or sustainable chemistry, which includes, according to IUPAC definition, “chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances hazardous to humans, animals, plants, and the environment.” Demonstrating the concept of “pollution prevention through zero waste,” parylene synthesis through vapor deposition is performed with no solvent, initiator, terminator, or catalyst. Using green products will make us feel even better when using wearable electronics … as long as they work!
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