Covestro, a spinout of pharmaceutical giant Bayer, will present an e-skin product that uses custom polyurethane materials at an upcoming plastics trade fair.
Compared to other e-skin materials, Covestro argues that its own material sticks to skin for extensive periods, but can easily be removed without causing marks or pains.
This would be a useful improvement over the current skin wearables, which either lack stickiness or are painful to remove. Covestro sees the e-skin material being useful in the wearables market, letting developers track different parts of the body.
�Consumers want wearables that cling gently to the skin, and that are also breathable and hypoallergenic,� says Gerd B�schel, a films expert at Covestro. �We�re meeting this need with a clever combination of different materials. The patch is affixed to the wearer by means of a skin-friendly, breathable adhesive, which also is solvent-free and water-repellent.�
Getting under their e-skin
Covestro hasn�t provided a lot of information on the capabilities for manufacturers that want to add connectivity modules, like Bluetooth, or sensors that track heart-rate, respiratory rate, and other measurements. We expect to find out more at K 2016.
Several universities and research labs have attempted to build e-skin products that can last for weeks and send data back to a connected smartphone. While Covestro�s new material doesn�t advance the connectivity aspect, it might make a mass market e-skin product more feasible.
For those interested in the skin products, Covestro will debut them at the K 2016 plastics trade show. If you�re not that into plastics, you should know that K 2016 is kind of a big deal, taking place in D�sseldorf, Germany, in October.
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