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Engineers at Tufts University in Massachusetts created and demonstrated the flexible sensors, which provide data on the direction, angle of rotation and degree of displacement of the head.
“The discovery raises the potential for thin, inconspicuous tattoo-like patches that could… measure athletic performance, monitor worker or driver fatigue, assist with physical therapy, enhance virtual reality games and systems, and improve computer generated imagery in cinematography,” the team claimed.
The researchers placed two threads in an ‘X’ pattern on the back of a subject's neck. Coated with an electrically conducting carbon-based ink, the sensors detect motion when the threads bend, creating strain that changes the way they conduct electricity. When the subject performed a series of head movements, the wires sent signals to a small Bluetooth module, which then transmitted data wirelessly to a computer or smartphone for analysis.
The data analysis used machine learning to interpret the signals and translate them to head movements in real-time, with 93% accuracy. Unlike other systems, the sensors are not reliant on wires, bulky devices or limiting conditions such as the use of cameras.
While algorithms need to be specialised for each location on the body, demonstrations showed the thread sensors could measure movement in other limbs, according to the researchers.
“This is a promising demonstration of how we could make sensors that monitor our health, performance and environment in a non-intrusive way,” said undergraduate student Yiwen Jiang, first author of the study. “More work needs to be done to improve the sensors' scope and precision, which in this case could mean gathering data from a larger array of threads regularly spaced or arranged in a pattern, and developing algorithms that improve the quantification of articulated movement.”
Jiang added: “If we can take this technology further, there could be a wide range of applications in healthcare as well. For example, those researching Parkinson's disease and other neuromuscular diseases could also track movements of subjects in their normal settings and daily lives to gather data on their condition and the effectiveness of treatments."
Thread-based sensors are so un-intrusive they seem to disappear for the wearer, said corresponding author Professor Sameer Sonkusale. “Creating a coated thread capable of measuring movement is a remarkable achievement, made even more notable by the fact that Yiwen developed this invention as an undergraduate. We look forward to refining the technology and exploring its many possibilities.”
The research was published in Scientific Reports.
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