Amorepacific Develops World’s First Tactile Sensor That Measures Skin Sensations.
Findings from a collaboration with UNIST have been published in the international scientific journal ACS Nano.
The beauty business is projected to benefit from the digitization of human skin sensations.
SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 28, 2022 – The world’s first intelligent tactile sensor capable of sensing skin feelings was developed by Amorepacific. Cosmetics with finely tailored textures will be possible thanks to this new sensor.
Machine learning and measuring technology are combined in these clever tactile sensors. They can then convert the temperature, moisture levels, and even the type of solution used into digital values. The ultra-thin sensor is flexible, withstands external pressure, and remains intact when adhering to the skin, enabling for stable assessment of skin senses. Professor Ko Hyun-hyub and his team at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), where they have cutting-edge technology for the sensor that mimics human skin, achieved this astonishing feat.
Amorepacific has spent years working on digitizing and quantifying the subjective human senses. Park Young-ho, Head of R&I Center at Amorepacific said, “Now, we are able to provide verified and reliable results by comparing the cool and warm sensations of cosmetics for evaluation. We will continue to further secure data using advanced technology and bring about innovations through research.”
The results of the studies, Flexible Pyroresistive Graphene Composites for Artificial Thermosensation Differentiating Materials and Solvent Types, were published online in the world-renowned scientific journal ACS Nano (IF:15.881) on January 12, 2022.
Wearable Sensors
Health care is being transformed by thin, squishy electronic systems that adhere to the skin. Hundreds of thousands of early versions of sensors, computers, and transmitters woven into flexible films, patches, bandages, or tattoos are being used in dozens of neurology trials alone, and the number is fast expanding. Many people will be wearing such sensors all of the time within the next decade. The information they gather will be fed into machine-learning algorithms that will track vital signs, detect anomalies, and track treatments.
Biophysical signals such as heart rhythms, breathing, temperature, and motion can be tracked with the first generation of bio-integrated sensors. More sophisticated systems are being developed that can monitor biomarkers (such as glucose) as well as activities like swallowing and talking.
Soft biosensor systems that continually measure clinical data are being commercialized by small businesses. Vital Connect, based in San Jose, California, iRhythm, based in San Francisco, MC10, based in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Sibel Health, based in Evanston, Illinois, is among them. For example, iRhythm’s single-use Zio patch monitors electrical pulses from the heart for 14 days and is more successful at detecting aberrant rhythms than occasional hospital check-ups. However, it is large and transitory, and data must be downloaded after usage rather than being delivered in real-time.
Clinical studies of more advanced sensors developed in our labs are underway in Chicago, Illinois. Smaller sensor networks for heart rate, breathing, and temperature are among them. They can wirelessly transmit data and are gentle enough to be placed on the chests of premature babies without harming their delicate skin6. When nurses, doctors, or parents want to pick up a baby, they don’t need to unplug a forest of cables. Similar systems could detect pressure and temperature at the contact between a limb socket and a prosthesis in persons who have had limbs amputated.
SOURCE Amorepacific and https://www.nature.com/