Flexible and Stretchable Circuits for Smart Wearables

Authors

  • Anis Nurashikin Nordin Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Nabilah Ramli Mechanical Engineering Department, International Islamic University Malaysia, Jalan Gombak, 53100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Keywords:

Flexible Circuit, Stretchable Circuit, Smart Wearables,

Abstract

Flexible and stretchable circuits have recently gained traction in the market due to the popularity of wearables and the rapid advancement in microsensors, big data and the Internet of Everything. For devices to be truly wearable, they need to conform to the shape of the human body, allowing ease of use, with sensors being pervasive but not intrusive. To allow this, electronics engineers need to shift their mindsets of manufacturing transistors, circuits and sensors on rigid planar surfaces to flexible, multidimensional and free-form substrates. This review manuscript describes the motivation for designing such circuits, its fabrication techniques, design considerations, performance evaluation and applications. It is expected that stretchable circuits will be a new way forward for integrated circuit technology and will continue to push the boundaries of manufacturing processes in the years to come.

References

M. Stoppa and A. Chiolerio, “Wearable Electronics and Smart Textiles: A Critical Review,” Sensors, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 11957–11992, Jul. 2014.

D. Giovanelli and E. Farella, “Force Sensing Resistor and Evaluation of Technology for Wearable Body Pressure Sensing,” J. Sens., vol. 2016, p. e9391850, Feb. 2016.

K.-I. Jang et al., “Soft network composite materials with deterministic and bio-inspired designs,” Nat. Commun., vol. 6, p. 6566, Mar. 2015.

Z. Ma, “An Electronic Second Skin,” Science, vol. 333, no. 6044, pp. 830–831, Aug. 2011.

M. Ochoa, R. Rahimi, and B. Ziaie, “Flexible Sensors for Chronic Wound Management,” IEEE Rev. Biomed. Eng., vol. 7, pp. 73–86, 2014.

H. Hocheng and C.-M. Chen, “Design, Fabrication and Failure Analysis of Stretchable Electrical Routings,” Sensors, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 11855–11877, Jul. 2014.

P. J. Rae and D. M. Dattelbaum, “The properties of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) in compression,” Polymer, vol. 45, no. 22, pp. 7615–7625, Oct. 2004.

Andreas Ostmann, Rene Vieroth, Manuel Seckel, Thomas Loher, and Herbert Reichl, “Stretchable circuit board technology in textile applications,” 2009, pp. 216–219.

K.-S. Kim, K.-H. Jung, and S.-B. Jung, “Design and fabrication of screen-printed silver circuits for stretchable electronics,” Microelectron. Eng., vol. 120, pp. 216–220, May 2014.

H. Lin, K. Pan, F. Yang, and Q. Qin, “Analysis of stress concentration phenomenon in stretchable interconnects,” presented at the 2015 International Conference on Mechatronics, Electronic, Industrial and Control Engineering (MEIC-15), 2015.

K.-S. Kim, K.-H. Jung, and S.-B. Jung, “Design and fabrication of screen-printed silver circuits for stretchable electronics,” Microelectron. Eng., vol. 120, pp. 216–220, May 2014.

Z. Zhu, T. Liu, G. Li, T. Li, and Y. Inoue, “Wearable Sensor Systems for Infants,” Sensors, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 3721–3749, Feb. 2015.

P. B. Shull, W. Jirattigalachote, M. A. Hunt, M. R. Cutkosky, and S. L. Delp, “Quantified self and human movement: A review on the clinical impact of wearable sensing and feedback for gait analysis and intervention,” Gait Posture, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 11–19, May 2014.

“Real-time neuroimaging and cognitive monitoring using wearable dry EEG - IEEE Xplore Document.” [Online]. Available: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7274673/. [Accessed: 27- May-2017].

W. Chen, S. Bambang Oetomo, L. Feijs, S. Bouwstra, I. Ayoola, and S. Dols, “Design of an Integrated Sensor Platform for Vital Sign Monitoring of Newborn Infants at Neonatal Intensive Care Units,” J. Healthc. Eng., vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 535–554, 2010.

W. Tao, T. Liu, R. Zheng, and H. Feng, “Gait Analysis Using Wearable Sensors,” Sensors, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 2255–2283, Feb. 2012.

S. Tadano, R. Takeda, K. Sasaki, T. Fujisawa, and H. Tohyama, “Gait characterization for osteoarthritis patients using wearable gait sensors (H-Gait systems),” J. Biomech., vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 684–690, Mar. 2016.

K. F. Lei, K.-F. Lee, and M.-Y. Lee, “A flexible PDMS capacitive tactile sensor with adjustable measurement range for plantar pressure measurement,” Microsyst. Technol., vol. 20, no. 7, pp. 1351–1358, Jul. 2014.

R. Guo et al., “Biomimicking Topographic Elastomeric Petals (EPetals) for Omnidirectional Stretchable and Printable Electronics,” Adv. Sci., vol. 2, no. 3, p. 1400021, Mar. 2015.

Downloads

Published

2017-11-30

How to Cite

Nordin, A. N., & Ramli, N. (2017). Flexible and Stretchable Circuits for Smart Wearables. Journal of Telecommunication, Electronic and Computer Engineering (JTEC), 9(3-8), 117–122. Retrieved from https://jtec.utem.edu.my/jtec/article/view/3109

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 3-8: Recent Trend in Electronic, Computing and Communication

Section

Articles

License

TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT

The manuscript is herewith submitted for publication in the Journal of Telecommunication, Electronic and Computer Engineering (JTEC). It has not been published before, and it is not under consideration for publication in any other journals. It contains no material that is scandalous, obscene, libelous or otherwise contrary to law. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, I, as the author, hereby agree to transfer to JTEC, all rights including those pertaining to electronic forms and transmissions, under existing copyright laws, except for the following, which the author(s) specifically retain(s):

  1. All proprietary right other than copyright, such as patent rights
  2. The right to make further copies of all or part of the published article for my use in classroom teaching
  3. The right to reuse all or part of this manuscript in a compilation of my own works or in a textbook of which I am the author; and
  4. The right to make copies of the published work for internal distribution within the institution that employs me

I agree that copies made under these circumstances will continue to carry the copyright notice that appears in the original published work. I agree to inform my co-authors, if any, of the above terms. I certify that I have obtained written permission for the use of text, tables, and/or illustrations from any copyrighted source(s), and I agree to supply such written permission(s) to JTEC upon request.