Smart Patches & Bandages

Sweat-Powered Sticker Turns Drinking Cup Into a Health Sensor

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed an electronic sticker that can monitor a person’s vitamin C levels using the sweat from their fingertips — no blood draws, lab visits, or batteries required. Read on to learn more about it.

Wireless Patch Enables Early Cancer Detection

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking, battery-free wearable patch that could help detect skin cancer earlier and more accurately, potentially saving lives by making screening more...

Smart Patch Runs Tests Using Sweat Instead of Blood

A KAIST research team has developed a smart patch that can precisely observe internal changes through sweat when simply attached to the body. This is expected to greatly contribute to the advancement of chronic disease management and personalized healthcare technologies. Read on to learn more.

Metamaterial Could Transform Ingestible and Implantable Medical Devices

Researchers, led by Rice University’s Yong Lin Kong, have developed a soft but strong metamaterial that can be controlled remotely to rapidly transform its size and shape. The invention, published in Science Advances, represents a significant advancement that can potentially transform ingestible and implantable medical devices. Read on to learn more about it.

Smart Wound Monitor Poised to Improve Chronic Infection Care

Researchers have developed a wearable wound monitoring device with integrated sensors that could reduce infection risks by minimizing the need for frequent physical contact. The proof-of-concept device is designed for reuse, making it more cost-effective and practical than disposable smart bandages and other emerging wound monitoring technologies. Read on to learn more.

Optoelectronic Patch Could Transform Blood Pressure Monitoring

A flexible optoelectronic patch, or ePatch, that is worn on a patient’s skin can continuously monitor blood pressure without the need for compressible cuffs or wired devices....

Self-Powered Patch Monitors Biomarkers Without Drawing Blood

Researchers have developed a self-powered microneedle patch to monitor a range of health biomarkers without drawing blood or relying on batteries or external devices. In...

Wearable Lactation Pads Detect Chemicals in Milk

Engineers have developed a smart lactation pad that can quantify a wide range of chemicals in breast milk in real time. Read on to learn more.

Device Detects Infections from Skin Temperature

An international team has developed an intelligent device capable of monitoring the temperature of the skin continuously and accurately. The device uses a thermoelectric system that works...

Reimagining Psychiatric Care: How Wearable Technology Is Transforming Mental Health Treatment

Wearable technology is transforming psychiatric care at home by offering real-time insights that help care teams make informed decisions faster. With constant monitoring, these devices help identify early signs of distress or deterioration, enabling timely interventions that can prevent hospitalizations and promote better patient outcomes. Read on to learn more.

Nanofiber Patch for Psoriasis

Researchers have developed a patch for easier and more effective treatment of psoriasis. The method may also be used in treatment of other inflammatory skin diseases. The dry patch contains active ingredients for treatment of psoriasis reduces the frequency of use to once a day. Read on to learn more.

Researchers Develop Clinically Validated, Wearable Ultrasound Patch for Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

A team of researchers at the University of California – San Diego has developed a new and improved wearable ultrasound patch for continuous and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring. Read on to learn more.

2024 Create the Future Design Contest: Honorable Mentions

See the honorable mentions from the 2024 Create the Future Design Contest, including the Vivally System, the only FDA-cleared, closed-loop, athome, noninvasive neuromodulation device system; PyrAmes, a digital health company focused on fundamentally transforming healthcare delivery through continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring that is accurate, wireless, and noninvasive; Battelle's platform for the discovery of novel polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) delivery vehicles; and more.

Lifesaving Spongelike ‘Bandage’ Rapidly Stops Hemorrhaging

Without proper medical invention, injuries sustained from traffic collisions, serious workplace accidents, or weapons may result in fatal hemorrhaging. UCF researchers aim to prevent such bleeding in potentially deadly situations with a new hemostatic spongelike bandage with antimicrobial efficacy. Read on to learn more.

How Printed Electronics Are Transforming Healthcare

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. Read on to learn more.

A Band-Aid for the Heart? New 3D Printing Method Makes This, and Much More, Possible

In the quest to develop lifelike materials to replace and repair human body parts, scientists face a formidable challenge: Real tissues are often both strong and stretchable and vary in shape and size. A CU Boulder-led team has taken a critical step toward cracking that code. They’ve developed a new way to 3D print material that is at once elastic enough to withstand a heart’s persistent beating, tough enough to endure the crushing load placed on joints, and easily shapable to fit a patient’s unique defects. Read on to learn more.

High-Tech Bandages Could Fend Off Infections, Improve Healing

When wounds happen, we want them to heal quickly and without complications, but sometimes infections and other complications prevent it. Binghamton University Prof. Seokheun “Sean” Choi has some ideas about how to improve the healing process. Read on to learn about them.

Wearable Lung Patch Detects COPD

Researchers have developed a deep learning (DL) model that they paired with a wearable patch equipped with a highly sensitive sensor that can automatically detect wheezing sounds. The deep learning model has...

Transdermal Technology: Designing the World’s First Seven-Day Patch for Alzheimer’s

Transdermal technology has been around for a very long time. The popularity of patches, consisting of plant, animal or mineral extracts, dates back to the building of the pyramids in ancient Egypt and in Babylonian medicine, around 3000 BC. How can transdermal patches help in the fight against Alzheimer’s? Read this article to find out.

Dissolvable Microneedle Patch Enables Local Delivery of Immunomodulatory Microparticles

A team searched for small molecules as drug candidates and identified a bifunctional antibiotic, azithromycin (AZM), that not only inhibits bacterial...

Microneedle Patch Reverses Alopecia Hair Loss

A novel treatment approach holds promise for painlessly delivering immune regulators to affected areas of the skin, promoting hair regrowth caused by alopecia areata.

Smart Bandages Improve Chronic Wound Healing

A team of researchers is developing a series of cutting-edge technologies to transform wound care, including smart bandages that would automatically sense and respond to changing conditions...

How Advanced Drug-Delivery Systems Are Improving Healthcare

Innovative reusable drug-delivery devices are transforming the administration of high-dose biologics by enabling self-administration of challenging drug formulations. These devices support high viscosity and larger injection volumes, enhancing patient comfort and adherence. Read on to learn more.

Plaster-Like Microlaser Device Accurately Measures Glucose Levels

Scientists have developed a plaster that measures body biomarkers that can indicate health or disease through sweat, paving the way for a new noninvasive and effective way...

Wearable Patch Provides Accurate, Continuous Measurement

Maintaining bodily water balance is essential for survival. Although sweat serves as a key indicator of physical and mental health, existing wearable technologies can only monitor...

Microneedle Patch Detects Skin Cancer

Researchers have developed a method for detecting malignant melanoma. A new type of patch equipped with microneedles can identify the biomarker tyrosinase directly in the skin.

Wearable Ultrasound Patch Enables Continuous, Noninvasive Monitoring of Cerebral Blood Flow

Engineers have developed a wearable ultrasound patch that can offer continuous, noninvasive monitoring of blood flow in the brain. The soft and stretchy patch can be comfortably worn on the temple to provide three-dimensional data on cerebral blood flow — a first in wearable technology.

‘Smart Skin’ Monitors Biological Signals on Demand

Skin can send certain health-related signals, such as dry skin feeling tighter to indicate the need for moisture. But what if skin could be smarter, capable of monitoring and sharing...

AI Wearable Patch Assists Speech

A team of engineers has invented a soft, thin, stretchy device measuring just over 1 sq in. that can be attached to the skin outside the throat to help people with dysfunctional vocal cords regain their voice function.