Cao Hua-Li, Cai Sui-Qing
Department of Dermatology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Dec 14;10:1083579. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1083579. eCollection 2022.
Electronic skins are currently in huge demand for health monitoring platforms and personalized medicine applications. To ensure safe monitoring for long-term periods, high-performance electronic skins that are softly interfaced with biological tissues are required. Stretchability, self-healing behavior, and biocompatibility of the materials will ensure the future application of electronic skins in biomedical engineering. This mini-review highlights recent advances in mechanically active materials and structural designs for electronic skins, which have been used successfully in these contexts. Firstly, the structural and biomechanical characteristics of biological skins are described and compared with those of artificial electronic skins. Thereafter, a wide variety of processing techniques for stretchable materials are reviewed, including geometric engineering and acquiring intrinsic stretchability. Then, different types of self-healing materials and their applications in electronic skins are critically assessed and compared. Finally, the mini-review is concluded with a discussion on remaining challenges and future opportunities for materials and biomedical research.
目前，健康监测平台和个性化医疗应用对电子皮肤有着巨大的需求。为确保长期安全监测，需要与生物组织软连接的高性能电子皮肤。材料的拉伸性、自修复性能和生物相容性将确保电子皮肤在生物医学工程中的未来应用。本综述重点介绍了用于电子皮肤的机械活性材料和结构设计的最新进展，这些进展已在这些领域成功应用。首先，描述了生物皮肤的结构和生物力学特性，并与人工电子皮肤进行了比较。此后，综述了各种可拉伸材料的加工技术，包括几何工程和获得固有拉伸性。然后，对不同类型的自修复材料及其在电子皮肤中的应用进行了批判性评估和比较。最后，本综述通过讨论材料和生物医学研究中仍存在的挑战和未来机遇来结束。
