A research team from the University of Tokyo has come up with a solar powered arm band which plays an alarm if the user’s body temperature gets high. This gadget will, reportedly, find its way to those who are in charge of managing/monitoring more than one patient.
The gadget is comprised of a flexible silicon solar panel, a piezoelectric speaker, power supply circuit and a temperature sensor. All of these have been created by making use of organic components that have been ink jet-printed onto a film of polymer. The band can be worn directly against skin or on clothes.
Once the temperature sensor finds out that the user’s body temperature has surpassed a preset range, the speaker plays an alarm. This would be the first time, most likely, that the use of an organic circuit has been employed for the purpose of creating sound. This would also be the first example of an organic power supply unit. Operational indoor illumination of solar panels is increased by 7.3 times with the help of this circuit.
The arm band is free from the need of any external power supply and due its flexibility, it doesn’t cause any sort of discomfort to the user. In order to maintain hygiene, it can be disposed off after each use and its economic price helps in doing so.
Professor Takao Somey, co-leader of the research along with Professor Takayasu Sakurai, said, “Our fever alarm armband demonstrates that it is possible to produce flexible, disposable devices that can greatly enhance the amount of information available to caregivers in healthcare settings. We have demonstrated the technology with a temperature sensor and fever alarm, but the system could also be adapted to provide audible feedback on body temperature, or combined with other sensors to register wetness, pressure or heart rate.”
A paper on this research will be presented at the 2015 IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference that will be held in San Francisco.
