Browse Topic: Consumer electronics
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have consolidated their place in the technology market for the energetic transition, with global manufacturing capacity exceeding 1 TWh in recent years and costs falling in this competitive environment. At the same time, the number of end-of-life LIBs is increasing, stimulating the recycling industry to process battery streams, thus promoting the circular economy to meet the increased demand for strategic raw materials and decarbonization. Vehicle electrification is the main driver of battery production, but their end-of-life will take some time to be significant in volume in the next years. Consumer electronics such as smartphones, laptops and power tools are now available at an appropriate volume enabling the preparation of recycling industry for the moment. In this scenario, recyclers are looking for sustainable routes to absorb all these streams and the different LIBs chemistries (LFP, NCA, NMC, LCO, LMO) to recover the critical metals (Ni, Co, Cu, Mn
Researchers from RMIT University have developed a wearable wound monitoring device with integrated sensors that could reduce infection risks by minimizing the need for frequent physical contact.
Waiting for a wound to heal is incredibly frustrating. First, it must clot; then an immune system response is needed; followed by scabbing and scarring — and that’s not even getting into the pain part.
During the first two years of life, the motor development of children is monitored closely, as motion is the natural base for their other development and interaction with the environment. Current methods do not allow accurate developmental monitoring throughout early childhood.
A team of Caltech engineers has developed a technique for inkjet printing arrays of special nanoparticles that enables the mass production of long-lasting wearable sweat sensors. These sensors could be used to monitor a variety of biomarkers, such as vitamins, hormones, metabolites, and medications, in real time, providing patients and their physicians with the ability to continually follow changes in the levels of those molecules.
Although lithium is highly effective to treat bipolar disorder, the chemical has a narrow therapeutic window — too high a dose can be toxic to patients, causing kidney damage, thyroid damage, or even death, while too low a dose renders the treatment ineffective.
In today’s medtech landscape, innovation isn’t just about what a device does — it’s about how reliably and cost-effectively it gets to market. As devices grow smaller, smarter, and more user-centered, materials like liquid silicone rubber (LSR) play a bigger role in enabling performance, comfort, and compliance. From implantables to connected wearables, LSR is helping engineers meet growing design and usability demands. As demand for the material grows, so do the pressures on supply chains, including launch timelines, increased regulatory scrutiny, and rising technical complexity.
Researchers have developed a wearable wound monitoring device with integrated sensors that could reduce infection risks by minimizing the need for frequent physical contact. The proof-of-concept device is designed for reuse, making it more cost-effective and practical than disposable smart bandages and other emerging wound monitoring technologies.
Scientists have produced a new, powerful electricity-conducting material that could improve wearable technologies, including medical devices. The new technique uses hyaluronic acid applied directly to a gold-plated surface to create a thinner, more durable film, or polymer, used to conduct electricity in devices like biosensors. It could lead to major improvements in the function, cost, and usability of devices like touchscreens and wearable biosensors.
In today’s digital age, the use of “Internet-of-Things” devices (embedded with software and sensors) has become widespread. These devices include wireless equipment, autonomous machinery, wearable sensors, and security systems. Because of their intricate structures and properties there is a need to scrutinize them closely to assess their safety and utility and rule out any potential defects. But, at the same time, damage to the device during inspection must be avoided.
A wearable wristband could significantly improve diabetes management by continuously tracking not only glucose but also other chemical and cardiovascular signals that influence disease progression and overall health.
A fiber sensor inspired by the shape of DNA, developed by researchers at Shinshu University, introduces a new design for more durable, flexible fiber sensors in wearables. Traditional fiber sensors have electrodes at both ends, which often fail under repeated movement when placed on body joints. The proposed double-helical design, however, places both electrodes on one end, allowing the sensor to endure repeated stretching and movement, effectively addressing a key limitation of conventional wearable sensors.
Sensors are used everywhere — from smartphones and wearable devices to industrial systems and logistics. But traditional sensors often rely on rigid components and batteries, limiting their applications in soft systems. To address this, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, have developed a smarter alternative. Using a paper-folding technique in combination with a triboelectric nanogenerator, they created a novel energy-harvesting sensor with promising potential for next-generation soft devices.
Not a traditional university lab, Harvard University’s Move Lab employs professional engineers, product developers, and academics who work across disciplines to bring research innovations to market. The lab is focused on human performance enhancement to protect people’s physical ability to guard against injury, extend their abilities beyond the limits of advancing age, and restore them to people who have lost them. They have developed wearable solutions that support functional movements and allow impaired individuals to more easily interact with their environment.
When it comes to technology adoption, the healthcare industry is historically risk averse. Despite strict regulations protecting patient data and concerns over medical outcomes, a new report from Mordor Intelligence reports that the global market for wireless portable medical devices is expected to exceed $31.4 billion this year. 1 The same report projects 12.14 percent compound annual growth through 2030 to meet the demands of a burgeoning geriatric population for wearable and implantable devices and in-home vital signs monitoring.
A long-lasting, 3D-printed, adhesive-free wearable provides a more comprehensive picture of a user’s physiological state. The device, which measures water vapor and skin emissions of gases, continuously tracks and logs physiological data associated with dehydration, metabolic shifts, and stress levels.
Engineers have developed a smart lactation pad that can quantify a wide range of chemicals in breast milk in real time. This work is pioneering the first wearable, rapid sensor for at-home measurement of chemicals in breast milk, addressing an important technology gap for improving the health of the mother and the baby.
Today, our mobile phones, computers, and GPS systems can give us very accurate time indications and positioning thanks to the over 400 atomic clocks worldwide. All sorts of clocks - be it mechanical, atomic or a smartwatch - are made of two parts: an oscillator and a counter. The oscillator provides a periodic variation of some known frequency over time while the counter counts the number of cycles of the oscillator. Atomic clocks count the oscillations of vibrating atoms that switch between two energy states with very precise frequency.
Researchers developed wearable skin sensors that can detect what’s in a person’s sweat. Using the sensors, monitoring perspiration could bypass the need for more invasive procedures like blood draws and provide real-time updates on health problems such as dehydration or fatigue. The sensor design can be rapidly manufactured using a roll-to-roll processing technique that essentially prints the sensors onto a sheet of plastic.
Not only the use, but also the wearing time of medical wearables continues to increase in modern healthcare. However, to ensure that wearable products do not cause skin irritation, product designers must consider the moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) during development. It plays an important role in skin compatibility and wearing comfort — and can be decisively influenced by the right joining technology.
A team of researchers has developed self-powered, wearable, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based contact layers for monitoring cardiovascular health. TENGs help conserve mechanical energy and turn it into power.
A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for health care monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers from Penn State and China’s Hebei University of Technology addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals.
An invention that uses microchip technology in implantable devices and other wearable products such as smart watches can be used to improve biomedical devices including those used to monitor people with glaucoma and heart disease.
As the main power source for modern portable electronic devices and electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are favored for their high energy density and good cycling performance. However, as the usage time increases, battery performance gradually deteriorates, leading to a heightened risk of thermal runaway (TR) increases, which poses a significant threat to safety. Performance degradation is mainly manifested as capacity decline, internal resistance increase and cycle life reduction, which is usually caused by internal factors of LIBs, such as the fatigue of electrode materials, electrolyte decomposition and interfacial chemical reaction. Meanwhile, external factors of LIBs also contribute to performance degradation, such as external mechanical stresses leading to internal structural damage of LIBs, triggering internal short-circuit (ISC) and violent electrochemical reactions. In this paper, the performance degradation of LIBs and TR mechanism is described in detail, as well
Researchers from Skoltech and the University of Texas at Austin have presented a proof-of-concept for a wearable sensor that can track healing in sores, ulcers, and other kinds of chronic skin wounds, even without the need to remove the bandages. The paper was published in the journal ACS Sensors.
A team of engineers is on a mission to redefine mobility by providing innovative wearable solutions to physical therapists, orthotic and prosthetic professionals, and individuals experiencing walking impairment and disability. Co-founded by Ray Browning and Zach Lerner, Portland-based startup Biomotum, aims “to empower mobility by energizing every step” through their wearable robotics technology.
Writing in Nature Electronics, the Brown University research team describes a novel approach for a wireless communication network that can efficiently transmit, receive, and decode data from thousands of microelectronic chips that are each no larger than a grain of salt.
Robotics researchers have already made great strides in developing sensors that can perceive changes in position, pressure, and temperature — all of which are important for technologies like wearable devices and human-robot interfaces. But a hallmark of human perception is the ability to sense multiple stimuli at once, and this is something that robotics has struggled to achieve.
Engineers have developed a wearable ultrasound device that can provide long-term, wireless monitoring of muscle activity with potential applications in healthcare and human-machine interfaces. Designed to stick to the skin with a layer of adhesive and powered by a battery, the device enables high-resolution tracking of muscle function without invasive procedures. In tests, the device was worn over the rib cage to monitor diaphragm motion and thickness, which are useful for assessing respiratory health. By tracking diaphragm activity, the technology could potentially support patients with respiratory conditions and those reliant on mechanical ventilation.
Researchers have developed a new method to pull moisture from the air and turn that water into electricity. The paper-based wearable device provides sustained high-efficiency power output through moisture capture.
There’s some irony in the fact that devices that seem indispensable to modern life — mobile phones, personal computers, and anything battery-powered — depend entirely on minerals extracted from mining, one of the most ancient of human industries. Once their usefulness is spent, we typically return these objects to the Earth in landfills, by the millions.
For many psychiatric patients, the traditional hospital setting can feel isolating and, at times, even stigmatizing. The high costs, limited access to care, and the disruption of being away from home often make inpatient treatment feel like a last resort.
A major challenge in self-powered wearable sensors for healthcare monitoring is distinguishing different signals when they occur at the same time. Researchers from Penn State and China’s Hebei University of Technology addressed this issue by uncovering a new property of a sensor material, enabling the team to develop a new type of flexible sensor that can accurately measure both temperature and physical strain simultaneously but separately to more precisely pinpoint various signals.
A new device aims to detect acute exacerbations of chronic conditions. The wearable monitoring device contains multiple types of sensors, enabling faster and more accurate detection of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic conditions like asthma, heart disease and other inflammatory disorders. Eventually, the technology may help everyday people monitor their overall health and attune to early warning signs of illness.
This paper presents the development of a cost-effective assistive headgear designed to address the navigation challenges faced by millions of visually impaired individuals in India. Existing solutions are often prohibitively expensive, leaving a significant portion of this population underserved. To address this gap, we propose a novel human-machine interface that utilizes a synergistic combination of computer vision, stereo imaging, and haptic feedback technologies. The focus of this project lies in the creation of a practical and affordable headgear that empowers visually impaired users with real time obstacle detection and navigation capabilities. The solution leverages computer vision for environmental analysis and integrates haptic feedback for intuitive user guidance. This paper details the design intricacies of the headgear, along with the implementation methodologies employed. We present comprehensive testing results and discuss the project's potential to significantly enhance
The emergence of data-driven healthcare promises predictive and preventive care through enhanced data integration and analytics. This trend means that medical device companies must navigate challenges related to data privacy and operational efficiency while transitioning to a data-centric approach. Artificial intelligence (AI) is spearheading this shift toward hyper-personalized medicine, enabling precision treatments based on genetic profiles and predictive analytics for early disease detection. Advancements in telemedicine, AI, wearable technology, and data analytics, are reshaping how care is delivered, making it more accessible, personalized, and efficient in 2025.
Researchers in the emerging field of spatial computing have developed a prototype augmented reality headset that uses holographic imaging to overlay full-color, 3D moving images on the lenses of what would appear to be an ordinary pair of glasses. Unlike the bulky headsets of present-day augmented reality systems, the new approach delivers a visually satisfying 3D viewing experience in a compact, comfortable, and attractive form factor suitable for all-day wear.
Researchers have developed a gel polymer-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that generates electrical signals from body movement to power electronics like LEDs and functions as a self-powered touch panel for user identification. The device can stretch up to 375 percent of its original size and withstand rigorous mechanical deformations, making it suitable for wearable applications. TENGs that convert mechanical energy such as body movement to electrical energy offer a solution to power wearable devices without relying on batteries.
Biofeedback training is a technology that enhances cognitive and emotional capabilities, empowering peak performance. What sets it apart is the Biocybernetics adaptation systems, which not only collect biofeedback data but also dynamically adjust your environment based on physiological signals. Imagine surroundings adapting — changing lighting, sounds, and more — in response to your biofeedback. Traditionally confined to clinical or training rooms, the real innovation is its integration into daily life. This system offers a new level of self-regulation. Users can navigate daily life venues with real-time insights into their physiological signals, providing continuous feedback and motivation for cognitive and emotional control. Efforts yield positive surroundings, fostering well-being and peak performance.
Researchers have developed a three-dimensional stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester that can harvest electrical energy using body movements. The device is to be used as a wearable energy harvester as it can be attached to the skin or clothes.
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
A team of researchers at the University of California – San Diego has developed a new and improved wearable ultrasound patch for continuous and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring. Their work marks a major milestone, as the device is the first wearable ultrasound blood pressure sensor to undergo rigorous and comprehensive clinical validation on over 100 patients.
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