Yoo, Seonggwang Yang, Tianyu Park, Minsu Jeong, Hyoyoung Lee, Young Joong Cho, Donghwi Kim, Joohee Kwak, Sung Soo Shin, Jaeho Park, Yoonseok Wang, Yue Miljkovic, Nenad King, William P. Rogers, John A. 2024-01-19T10:03:22Z 2024-01-19T10:03:22Z 2023-08-31 2023-02 2041-1723 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/113994 Soft, wireless physiological sensors that gently adhere to the skin are capable of continuous clinical-grade health monitoring in hospital and/or home settings, of particular value to critically ill infants and other vulnerable patients, but they present risks for injury upon thermal failure. This paper introduces an active materials approach that automatically minimizes such risks, to complement traditional schemes that rely on integrated sensors and electronic control circuits. The strategy exploits thin, flexible bladders that contain small volumes of liquid with boiling points a few degrees above body temperature. When the heat exceeds the safe range, vaporization rapidly forms highly effective, thermally insulating structures and delaminates the device from the skin, thereby eliminating any danger to the skin. Experimental and computational thermomechanical studies and demonstrations in a skin-interfaced mechano-acoustic sensor illustrate the effectiveness of this simple thermal safety system and suggest its applicability to nearly any class of skin-integrated device technology. English Nature Publishing Group Responsive materials and mechanisms as thermal safety systems for skin-interfaced electronic devices Article 10.1038/s41467-023-36690-y 1 Nature Communications, v.14, no.1 Nature Communications 14 1 Y scie scopus 001050104400020 2-s2.0-85148790788 Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics Article