Flexible Skin-Mountable Sensor With User Input Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for continuous monitoring of physiological properties like blood glucose concentration are limited by their bulkiness, discomfort, and inability to provide real-time, user-interactive feedback, especially when mounted on the skin for extended periods.
Innovation Solution
A body-mountable device with a flexible substrate and integrated sensors, input, and output components that can detect physiological properties in real-time, receive user inputs, and perform actions based on these inputs, minimizing skin interference and providing comfortable, long-term wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If a continuous monitoring device is implanted or worn on the body, then continuous measurement of physiological properties is achieved, but the device becomes bulky and uncomfortable for extended wear
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into multiple functional layers including a flexible substrate layer, sensor layer, electronics layer, and output layer. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized independently for comfort and function, reducing overall bulk while enabling continuous monitoring through coordinated operation of discrete components distributed across the wearable structure
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs a flexible substrate as its foundational structure, allowing the entire assembly to conform to skin contours and move with the body. This flexible film approach eliminates rigid housing, reduces skin interference, and enables comfortable extended wear while maintaining continuous monitoring capability through the integrated sensor and electronics layers
2Loss of information
If traditional monitoring devices are used, then physiological properties can be measured periodically, but real-time user interaction and feedback are not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates an output component that provides real-time feedback to the user about measured physiological properties. This feedback loop allows users to immediately see the information they are monitoring, enabling informed decisions and interactions with the device. The output component may include visual displays, haptic feedback, or wireless communication capabilities that deliver instantaneous physiological data
Solution Approach 2:
The device integrates multiple functions into a single wearable unit: sensing physiological properties, processing data, providing user input interfaces, and delivering output feedback. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate monitoring and interaction devices, making real-time user interaction as convenient as periodic measurement while capturing continuous physiological information
3Ease of operation
If a flexible design is used to conform to skin, then comfort and usability are enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functional components are merged into integrated layers on the flexible substrate. Sensors, electronics, and output components are combined in a stacked or planar configuration that maintains flexibility while reducing the number of discrete parts. This merging approach manages complexity by creating unified functional blocks rather than separate components
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2D
Figure 3
AI summary
A body-mountable device includes a flexible substrate configured for mounting to a skin surface. The device includes an input component configured to receive inputs from a user, e.g., finger presses, swipes, motions of the sensing platform, or gestures. Received inputs could include calibration data, for example, known values of a sensed property to compare with corresponding values obtained by a sensor of the device. The device can additionally include an output component configured to provide outputs to a user. Outputs could include indications of sensor readings, medical alerts, or operational states of the device. The flexible substrate of the device is configured to be adhered or otherwise mounted to the skin in a manner that minimally impacts activities of the body.