Project R-13197

Hybrid E-Tattoo: A platform for sensor fusion of smart textiles and skin adhesives for the next generation of smart wearables (Research)

In the past years, an increase in digital wearables that collect real-time data and vital parameters of the body to assess health has increased. These wearables can measure a variety of parameters such as temperature, oxygen saturation, breathing rate, etc. While most projects focus on the development of such wearables using only one sensor, this project Hybrid E-Tattoo will work on a versatile hybrid plug & play wearable sensor technology platform by combining the expertise on functional skin adhesives and smart textiles. This makes wearable technology more accessible for SME companies, indicating that the type of sensors incorporated into the platform can be adapted according to the manufacturer needs/application, and where otherwise the knowledge base to enter and proceed in the complicated web of fused sensors is missing, is now simplified. For this purpose, Hybrid E-Tattoo is based on the integration of different sensor concepts in both skin adhesives and textiles. The project will show that by utilizing a combination of both systems, together with a multi-sensory approach, this will form an innovative plug & play platform that enables various applications for future health applications. The plug & play technology platform exists out of sensors that measure properties at the skin by using functional skin adhesives; called E-tattoos, and a textile-based unit (TB-U) equipped with textile-based sensors capable of gathering data from a single or more E-Tattoo's depending on the application. The active E-Tattoo contains a microprocessor, for wireless control, transmitting and processing data, combined with an antenna for energy EM-recuperation. The intelligently designed platform will exist out the re-usable part (TB-U) and a disposable skin adhesive equipped with the sensors needed for the SME's application. This is highly innovative for the SME market as it simplifies the development cycle, enables a faster introduction into market and reduces overall costs as there is no need to design a smart skin adhesive from scratch. The TB-U functions as a "central unit" for the entire system and contains the energy supply, a central data evaluation unit, an antenna for supplying energy and transmitting signals to the E-Tattoo and a connection to a smartphone/cloud-based storage. The TB-U has a universal structure with a defined communication interface and to be used in different sensory tasks/applications. The TB-U remains for the lifetime of the textile, fulfills all requirements for washability or sweat tolerance and at the textile's end of lifetime is detached and recycled. Our consortium aims at building a reliable, durable, sustainable safe and easy to use smart healthcare wearable. These elements will be tackled via in-lab calibration and durability tests, mimicking environmental loads and external influences and validating the platform using healthy volunteers. Hybrid E-Tattoo builds and disseminates a design and test guide for SMEs to close the development cycle of their product idea. To show the full potential of our sensor technology platform, exemplary demonstrators will be set up, which will serve as a design basis for future SME projects to facilitate entry into the market. The platform technology will develop demonstrators based on TRL 3-4 developments, which will be upgraded to TRL 6-7 level to a "proof of concept" in the form of prototypes. Hybrid E-Tattoo has a strong pre-competitive character and complementary integrates five leading research institutions in the field. The consortium has vast expertise in textile technology and medical wearables and in the fields of printing technology and micro-nanotechnology. With a large group of industrial partners, Hybrid E-Tattoo comprises of a unique collaboration platform in the Euregio to boost wearable technology towards the most important innovation in the wearables market of the 21st century.

01 January 2023 - 31 December 2024