Researchers in Istanbul have created nanowires that can communicate wirelessly with neighboring devices without the use of external power sources such as batteries. This breakthrough could pave the way for a slew of biosensing devices that have previously been hindered by reliance on large external power sources or cable connection.
Kristen D. Belcastro, a lecturer at Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey, and Onur Ergen, Vice President for Research and Development at the Department of Electronics and Communication at Istanbul Technical University, created the backscattering-based nanotattoo sensor (BNTS) tattoos. The tattoos are made up of two inks: a zinc oxide ink with embedded nanowires and a graphene aerogel conductive ink. The two inks are applied to the skin at the same time using different needles. According to Ergen, the ink containing the nanowires contains some aerogel, albeit at a slower pace than the substrate, and as a result, the two inks are bonded in touch.
Wireless communication between the devices is based on the creation of electrical signals by piezoelectric activity, which turns mechanical energy into electrical energy as the tattoos change shape. To project signals from the tattoo and receive data, the wireless network infrastructure employs a smartphone and a broadband modem as a companion device. The device was used to assess the range of motion in the researchers’ work, which was recently published in IEEE Electron Device Letters. However, Ergen stated that they are looking at many more use cases.
According to Ergen, this communication method, known as backscattering from the environment, is similar to RFID but does not rely on a limited number of permissible frequencies. The researchers collected information from the tattoos using a broadband modem at 900 megahertz and 2.45 gigahertz.
The device built by Belcastro and Ergen is similar in concept to previous electronic tattoos, and the co-inventor of this sort of tattoo stated that the wireless communication link is persuasive.
Could change the health-care industry
Ergen believes his tattoo research is branching out into other areas of medicine. One ongoing area of study is the use of tattoos as wireless EEG sensors. While the current version generates the energy needed to pick up the ambient signal by bending a body component, Ergen believes that other ways could also work. Ergen and colleagues, for example, have previously investigated the use of sweat sensors to collect data.
