How Printed Electronics Are Transforming Healthcare

Dr. Klas-Moritz Kossel, Covestro

The healthcare industry is evolving and facing two major challenges. First, the rise of chronic diseases. By 2050, chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses could account for 86 percent of the 90 million deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2023 World Health Statistics report. This increase is due to factors such as an aging population, lifestyle changes, and risk factors like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and air pollution. Consequently, this creates a second challenge: added strain on healthcare resources. To address this, WHO recommends tackling the root causes of chronic diseases, promoting healthier behaviors, and ensuring universal access to healthcare resources.

New technologies offer solutions for managing and preventing chronic diseases by improving healthcare delivery and patient self-management. Printed electronics have revolutionized healthcare innovation by enabling the printing of electronic devices on various surfaces. For medical device manufacturers, this technology reduces costs, saves space, offers design flexibility, and enables large-scale production. For instance, a wearable patch for diabetes patients provides real-time blood glucose monitoring. This allows patients to manage their condition continuously and proactively. The patch also enables seamless data collection and transmission, allowing healthcare providers to monitor patients’ health remotely and intervene promptly when needed.

Printed electronics for healthcare applications, such as wearable sensors or smart wound dressing, are typically fabricated using an advanced substrate film solution such as thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). For skin-worn devices, the following attributes are essential:

• Moves and stretches along with the skin.

• Remains on the body for an extended period without damaging the skin.

• Ensures breathability and high wearable comfort without limiting freedom of movement.

High-Tech Materials for Healthcare Applications

With decades of experience in medical-grade materials, Covestro, for example, offers multilayer TPU films tailored for breathability, stretchability, surface finish, and thickness. Designed for close contact and mimicking skin, these TPU substrates are ideal for printing electronics. These films excel in flexibility and durability, while enhancing design functionality and performance.

To achieve excellent comfort, high-performing TPU films like Covestro’s Platilon^® enable the next generation of printed electronics for healthcare devices. These films are skin-friendly, soft, matte, stretchable, printable, and breathable.

The newest grades of Platilon are explicitly designed for high printing quality, processability, and mechanical strength. These multilayer films facilitate easier printing, curing, and converting processes for printed electronics.

Collaborative Approach for Customized Films

As a material supplier, Covestro collaborates with suppliers and printing partners across the value chain to develop a customized film that meets specific product requirements while shortening device manufacturers’ time to market.

Smart Devices, Medical Wearables, and Flexible Electronics. For instance, Covestro collaborated with Henkel to produce samples utilizing Platilon TPU film on a stiffer polypropylene carrier, enhancing processability with Henkel LOCITE ECI 1014, a highly conductive silver ink, which dries at temperatures as low as 80 °C. Printability with silver-based inks is important because it ensures good conductivity and reliable sensor integration.

“Henkel and Covestro have a long history of working together to find customized solutions for our customers,” says Pia Schmiedel, business development medical printed electronics, Henkel Adhesive Technologies. “This sample showcases superior printing quality and fine-line printing, suitable for smart devices, medical wearables, and flexible electronics.”

Innovative Smart Patch Detects Bag Leaks for Enhanced Patient Comfort. Working in collaboration with Witte Technology GmbH and Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG, Covestro film materials contributed to developing a smart patch for early detection of ostomy bag leaks. People with artificial intestinal outlet (stoma) use ostomy bags, which collect the gut and bowel liquid. These bags can sometimes leak, which can be associated with discomfort for the patient. The patch is designed for retrofitting an ostomy bag and can be integrated into existing solutions.

“The excellent collaboration among Witte Technology, Lohmann, and Covestro has yielded a groundbreaking solution” says Dr. Volker Lutz, head of new business development, Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG. “With its innovative sensor array on medical-grade Platilon TPU film, this smart patch promises enhanced comfort and peace of mind for ostomy patients worldwide.”

Cutting-Edge Smart Bio-Sensing Patch. “The future of printed wearables belongs to pioneering patches aimed at better patient comfort and enhanced accuracy,” says Minh Le, vice president at Linxens Healthcare. “We chose to work with the new TPU substrate from Covestro because it has been perfectly adapted for our unique converting process and printing flexible circuits.”

Conclusion

The convergence of healthcare and technology is reshaping patient care, and printed electronics are pivotal in this transformation. Printed electronics offer promising solutions, enabling real-time monitoring and proactive patient management for improved outcomes.

For OEMs, choosing the right material provider is crucial. Partners should be aligned with the OEM’s product vision and should offer high-quality materials, provide customization options, and support the OEM throughout the development process.

This article was written by By Dr. Klas-Moritz Kossel, Project Lead R&D Specialty Films, Covestro, Dormagen, Germany. For more information, visit here  .

---