New £1.3M EPSRC grant to be led by EDA on ‘Passively Powered Non-invasive Human Body Sensing on Bio-Degradable Conformal Substrates’

Professor John Batchelor from the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, has been awarded the EPSRC project entitled ‘Passively Powered Non-invasive Human Body Sensing on Bio-Degradable Conformal Substrates’ in collaboration with medical sensing and inkjet printing experts at the University of Manchester. The project will also involve the High Value Manufacturing Catapult CPI in Sedgefield as well as the inventor of silicon based epidermal electronics, Professor John Rogers at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.

The team will create a new manufacturing platform for smart, multifunctional sensing devices. These passively powered tags will be printed using low environmental impact inks on bio-degradable tattoo transfers that can remain on the body for days at a time and will include novel 3D integratedaccelerometers. The new sensors will communicate over several metres and enable physiological monitoring in situations, and over time spans, where is it currently just not possible. Successful outcomes will provide unprecedented longitudinal data, helping those at risk of chronic medical conditions such as vascular problems, as well as allowing customisation and personalisation in healthcare interventions.

The full team is Professor John Batchelor (Kent), Dr Alexander Casson (Manchester), Professor Stephen Yeates (Manchester), Graham Worrall (CPI) and Professor John Rogers (Northwestern).