WICK THE SWEAT AWAY

Bioengineer and professor Young-Ho Cho from The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has created thin silicone patches for wearable devices that rapidly wick water away from the skin. The technique could reduce the redness and itching caused by wearable biosensors that trap sweat beneath them. “Wearable bioelectronics are becoming more attractive for the day-to-day monitoring of biological compounds found in sweat, like hormones or glucose, as well as body temperature, heart rate, and energy expenditure,” said Professor Cho. “But currently available materials can cause skin irritation, so scientists are looking for ways to improve them,” he added. Professor Cho has created a new technique for creating the patches which is cheaper and more effective than the current model, and most importantly caused no irritation. He said: “Our method could be used to fabricate porous polydimethylsiloxane membranes for skin-attachable devices used for daily monitoring of physiological signals.”