Material & Component Convergence R&D Department, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, 143 Hanggaul-ro, Sangnok-gu, Ansan 15588, Korea.
Department of Fiber System Engineering, Dankook University, 152 Jukjeon-ro, Suji-gu, Yongin 16890, Korea.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Sep 15;22(18):6985. doi: 10.3390/s22186985.
This research describes a wearable skin hydration sensor based on cotton textile to determine the state of hydration within the skin via impedance analysis. The sensor structure comprises a textile substrate, thermoplastic over-layer, conductive patterns, and encapsulant, designed for stable and reliable monitoring of the skin's impedance change in relation to hydration level. The porcine skin with different hydration levels was prepared as a model system of the skin, and the textile-based sensor carefully investigated the porcine skin samples' impedance characteristics. The impedance study reveals that (1) the total impedance of skin decreases as its hydration level increases, and (2) the impedance of the stratum corneum and epidermis layers are more dominantly affected by the hydration level of the skin than the dermis layer. Even after repetitive bending cycles, the impedance data of skin measured by the sensor exhibit a reliable dependence on the skin hydration level, which validates the flexibility and durability of the sensor. Finally, it is shown that the textile-based skin hydration sensor can detect various body parts' different hydration levels of human skin while maintaining a stable conformal contact with the skin. The resulting data are well-matched with the readings from a commercial skin hydration sensor.
本研究描述了一种基于棉纺织品的可穿戴皮肤水合传感器，通过阻抗分析来确定皮肤内部的水合状态。传感器结构包括纺织基底、热塑外层、导电图案和密封剂，旨在稳定可靠地监测皮肤的阻抗变化与水合水平的关系。使用不同水合水平的猪皮作为皮肤模型系统，对基于纺织品的传感器进行了仔细研究，以评估其对猪皮样本阻抗特性的影响。阻抗研究表明：（1）皮肤的总阻抗随着水合水平的增加而降低；（2）与真皮层相比，表皮和角质层的阻抗更受皮肤水合水平的影响。即使在反复弯曲循环后，传感器测量的皮肤阻抗数据仍可靠地依赖于皮肤的水合水平，这验证了传感器的灵活性和耐用性。最后，结果表明，基于纺织品的皮肤水合传感器能够检测人体不同部位皮肤的不同水合水平，同时保持与皮肤的稳定贴合接触。所得数据与商业皮肤水合传感器的读数非常吻合。
