Another technologically advanced device has been developed and is said to be able to issue early warnings for a range of conditions. This ultra thin device can give the user a quick alert for something as minor as dry skin or even when a person begins experiencing cardiovascular trouble.
The device is small and is intended to be used like a patch, worn directly over the skin for round the clock health monitoring. It has a flexible substrate layer that contains thousands of tiny liquid crystals that are highly sensitive to changes in body temperature. The device will change color to signal that something is wrong. Northwestern University senior researcher, Yonggang Huang, said that, "Our device is mechanically invisible-it is ultrathin and comfortable-much like itself. One can imagine cosmetic companies interested in the ability to measure skin's dryness in a portable and nonintrusive way. This is the first device of its kind." Co-author to the research and assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, Yihui Zhang, added that, "The device is very practical-when your skin is stretched, compressed, or twisted, the device stretches, compresses, or twists right along with it.
The type of technology employed in the development of this device and its relevance to basic medicine cookie remarkable. However, additional testing and further study is needed before the device can actually be used on a wider scale. The technology used in this gadget makes use of the transient temperature changes that take place on the surface of a person's skin, which is influenced by the rate of blood flow. This is subsequently related to cardiovascular health and even skin hydration levels. The liquid crystal layer then senses the temperature changes and algorithm within the device translates the temperature data into a precise health report. "These results provide the first examples of epidermal photonic sensors. This technology significantly expands the range of functionality in skin-mounted devices beyond that possible with electronics alone."