Flexible Sensors and How It Impacts the Business World - Essay Example

Sensor technology, in which electric currents are triggered by various physical properties such as pressure and temperature, has seen a diverse scope of application. The great attractiveness of sensors is their ability to collect signals in their environment on changes in pressure, temperature, fluid flow, optics and many other environmental elements. The impact has been numerous improvements to human life, with applications such as touch-sensitive screens on smart phone screens, application in manufacturing, military, security installations such motion sensors, among numerous other applications.

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New innovations in sensor technology have been taking place since its inception, with innovators improving tenets of the technology and coming up with increasingly better and more effective ways for sensor technology to be applied. One such improvement is flexible sensors that have been developed recently from polymer material. The flexibility of these sensor screens allow for easier monitoring of signals from a wide array of areas, including the environment and the body.

They also present developers with huge potential for application, including in smart displays, diagnosis of internal body organs, energy harvesting and robot ergonomics. Polymers have been used to create screens with features that make them usable for all sorts of applications in various fields to gather data and monitor aspects such as internal organs of the body, functioning of outer body parts such as the skin, and other equipment such as wearable devices.

In the making of flexible sensors, scientists relied on the malleability, elasticity and low cost processing of polymers, as well as their self-programming ability and bio-compatibility for use in varied applications. (Pang, Lee & Suh, 2013) Circuit elements such as organic and inorganic arrays, nanowires and graphene were weaved together, with applications ranging from multi-purpose electrical and mechanical changes in a particular environment. According to Pang, Lee & Suh, (2013) reasons for the use of polymers as the basic components of flexible sensors include flexibility, functionality and suitability;

Their stretching and flexing ability; this is the most important property of flexible sensors, the ability to adhere to a wide range of shapes and surfaces. Due to the thin nature of polymer sheets that are used, porous membranes, meshes and webs are sometimes used to support them, (Pang, Lee & Suh, 2013). This same weakness of polymers to be less tough than other materials also makes them unsuitable for nanotubes for transmitting of data and nanowires for power transmission to be fabricated on them at high temperature. Other methods have been adopted to fix the components by use of solution assembly, transfer printing, spray coating and contact printing (Pang, Lee & Suh, 2013) using the required component material.

Functionality in the sensors is made possible by the presence of Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs) acting as the programmable matrices layer, which strengthens the sensitivity of the device to mechanical properties, and boosts the reversible characteristics of polymers to stretch to accommodate pressure and resume normal shape when the pressure is withdrawn, (Pang, Lee & Suh, 2013). The applications of flexible sensors are grounded in this important property of polymers to allow for deformity while still maintaining function.

The suitability of polymers as flexible sensors, especially the use that require contact with the skin and body organs, is its stability as an element. With little likeliness to react to any bodily chemicals, reactions and allergic reactions are avoided. For devices to be attached to the body, an adhesive layer can be added to the polymer, which allows close contact with body parts and facilitates the transfer of the vital signals to the sensor matrix as they are made to do. For internal organs use, a waterproof sealing is used to avoid the interference of bodily fluids in the structure of the sensor, and also retain function.

Pang, Lee & Suh, (2013) address specifically the use of flexible sensors on, in and around the body. Polymers are preferred for these applications due to their bio-compatibility with the skin and internal organs, as they dont cause irritation. Ways in which polymers are made include solution processing, transfer printing and nanomolding, with nonomembranes being the most preferred due to perfect molecular layout, ability to create high resolution imaging and high mobility.

E-skins are some of the devices that are using flexible sensors as the backbone of their operations. Healthcare devices that are used to capture data from the skin using strips pasted on the skin, e-skins are made to function like the skin does in capturing and relaying data to the brain. They can also be programmed to relay the signals collected on the skin surface to a computer, with data gathered being used to observe more closely the function of the body, which can help to make healthcare decisions, or to direct intelligent artificial objects.

Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs) are the essential elements of the e-skin, with nanowires, arranged in parallel on the strip being the preferred material for transmission, their versatility allowing for their usability even in the tiny sizes required in e-skins. According to Pang, Lee & Suh, (2013) use of flexible sensors (e-skins) in robotics helps to make robots safer for human interaction, making it unnecessary to conform to the current trend whereby humans and robots at the workplace are kept in separate spaces to avoid accidents that could cause harm to people. The same property of real skin simulation by e-skins makes them suitable for use on prosthetics fixed on people with severed body parts.

Another application of flexible sensors in biology is the wearable devices range of products. Ultra-thin devices are used to detect and also to monitor their surrounding physical properties such as pressure, strain, tear, temperature and humidity, among others, and it should provide reliable and accurate data while still facilitating natural movements of users, and without being uncomfortable to them (Kenry, Yeo & Lim, 2016). These devices are integrated to form components such as lighting diodes, power generation capabilities and even more powerful signal transmitters than e-skins, which make them applicable for many devices. Application in the healthcare industry has produced numerous wearable devices which monitor and help in improving or making decisions that can improve the life of a patient.

Both diagnostic and therapeutic functionalities are also involved, with uses ranging from monitoring of knee motions during exercises, which can help patients maintain their form and avoid potential injury. Gloves are also similarly used to monitor each fingers movements, which can allow sportsmen in exercises.

Inside the body, implantable flexible sensor devices are used to monitor internal body organs functionality and health. Made specifically to be attached directly on an internal organ, implantable devices monitor electric signals coming from organs such as the heart, information from which can allow surgeries to be planned and executed better.

Seo, et. al. (2016) further gives the chemistry innovations done in order to make the flexible sensors using the polymer material. The writers explain on the use of highly conducive flexible adhesives that contain silver flakes multi-walled carbon nanotubes with silver nanoparticles and nitrate butadiene rubber (Seo, et. al. 2016). The process that follows includes electrode cells that are used to synthesize the elements together to form the ink that is used to print polymer films in the signature parallel stripes.

The flexible sensors that are formed in this process make touch sensitive screens, which is a varied process from the LED touch sensitive screen in material only. With thickened strips of polymer sheets being used, the process is sufficient to make screens that are thick enough to be handheld, with enough features being added on to make a potentially revolutionary product such as foldable touch screen phones. Conducive gels applied between layers of silicone can be used to detect touch in different physical states of stretch, fold or bend (UoBC, 2017).

In the industry, the implications of this new technology have many applications that could result in the formation of a multi-billion industry. Current display screens are susceptible to cracking and shattering, with the replacement cost of the screens, which are really expensive to make, being almost as expensive as buying new devices. Screens in devices such as smart phones contribute too much of the input in making the phone, which raises their prices substantially.

Polymer screens are cheaper to make, and are also flexible, foldable and stretchable, and not given to cracking or shattering on contact with hard surfaces. A transition to the use of these flexible sensor screens would greatly revolutionize the smart phones and display screens market, conventional devices have limitations such as insufficient spatial density, and the devices have the ability to perform over a wide area, and high performance and spatial resolution (Pang, Lee & Suh, 2013).

Not only might the flexible, polymer-based screens improve the spatial utility of devices, their higher performance capability will mean that they also provide users with superior specifications of performance. According to Chansin (2017), the market use of the sensors will open up a new commercial world of application in diverse fields, ranging from human-machines interfaces, with use in various sectors of environmental sensing.

Chansin (2017) also gives the various applications of flexible sensors in real life, where opportunities exist for players in the industry to come in and create real solutions that can have a huge effect on the markets, improving the ease of workings on several areas of sensing. With the much lower costs that are required to create polymer-based flexible sensors, application in industry not only makes it a much more effective device, but also a cost saving and cheaper one.

Applied use of flexible sensors include gas sensors that are applied in homes and industry where gas is used for a variety of uses, and it helps protect users from the risk of gas leaks that may happen and cause loses. Pressure and flow sensitive sensors are used to detect flows of gas in confined spaces and also locate the leakages along the piping, which allows for early mitigation and avoids danger.

Another applied use is in optical sensors, which are able to sense activity around a given space by use of light. This can be used as a security feature to avoid sneaking around of people in zones where restricted access is enforced. Other applications include optical imaging, light sensitive lighting, among others.

Thermal sensors are also widely used around the industry, with numerous fields of applications, including in the healthcare industry. The intravenous devices that are implanted inside the body transmit temperatures as one of the signals from the body, which allows for health decisions to be made on a particular patient much better, due to the availability of information on organ functioning.

Other types of sensors include biosensors, capacitive sensors piezoresistive sensors piezoelectric sensors and humidity sensors (Chansin 2017). Their applications and the potential for development and application of these and more types of flexible sensors in virtually unlimited, due to their flexibility that allows them to come in all sizes, shapes and weights. The processing of the polymer screens is also quite in...