Scientists develop new wearable sensor that can track your eye movement and more

Technology as we have said many times before is always advancing and it continues to amaze us every time. While new innovations are always being developed, it's fascinating how new technologies continue to change how we live our lives. Having said that, scientists have now developed a novel disposable band aid-sized wearable sensor using cheap toilet tissue that can detect a pulse, a blink of an eye and other human movements.

The sensor is light, flexible and inexpensive, with potential applications in healthcare and robotics. As such, researchers, in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies, showed that by tearing a tissue paper that is loaded with nanocomposites and breaking its fibres, the paper acts as a sensor.

"It can detect a heartbeat, finger force, finger movement, eyeball movement and more," said Jae-Hyun Chung, Associate Professor at the University of Washington. "The major innovation is a disposable wearable sensor made with cheap tissue paper. When we break the specimen, it will work as a sensor."

These small, band aid-sized sensors could have a variety of applications such as monitoring a person's gait, the movement of their eyes, and to inspect brain function or a game player's actions.
The sensor could also track how a special-needs child walks in a home test, as well as in occupational therapy for seniors. "They can use these sensors once and they can be thrown away," Chung noted.

For the research, the team used conventional paper towels and then doused them with carbon nanotube-laced water. Carbon nanotubes are tiny materials that create electrical conductivity. Each piece of tissue paper has both horizontal and vertical fibers, so when the paper is torn, the direction of the tear informs the sensor of what has happened.

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To trace eye movement, they are attached to a person's reading glasses. For now, the work has been contained to a laboratory, and researchers are hoping to find a suitable commercial use.

Inputs from IANS