"While our devices still require further development in several areas, they have game-changing potential so that everyone can access their health more effectively and more frequently." Had a joint appointment with UChicago PME Associate Professor Wang Wang in the Argonne Department of Nanoscience and Technology.
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Another major challenge the team faced was embedding electronic devices in stretchable, skin-like materials. The basic material of any electronic device is a semiconductor. In the solid state electronics used today in cell phones and computers, these are usually solid silicon chips. For electronics to be elastic, a semiconductor must be a very flexible material that can still conduct electricity.
The team's skin-like neuromorphic chip consists of a thin layer of plastic semiconductor with stretchable gold nanowire electrodes. Even when it was twice the normal size, their device worked as it should without cracking.
As an experiment, the team created an artificial intelligence tool and trained it to distinguish healthy electrocardiogram (ECG) signals from four different symptoms. After training, the device has more than 95% efficiency in correctly identifying ECG signals.
The plastic semiconductors were analyzed at beamline 8-ID-E, the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at DOE's Argonne Science Facility. Exposure to intense X-rays showed how the molecules that make up the skin-like device rearranged as it doubled in length. These results provide information at the molecular level to better understand the material's properties.
"The proposed APS upgrade would increase the brightness of X-rays by a factor of up to 500," said Argonne physicist Joe Strzalka. "We hope to study the device material under normal operating conditions, interacting with charged particles and changing electrical potential. Instead of pictures, we will have more movies of the structural reactions of materials. Molecular level," he said. This allows you to measure whether it is soft or hard.
"Although our devices still need further development in several areas, our devices could one day be a game changer for accessing everyone's health in a more efficient and reproducible way," Wang added.
Source: Eurekalert