Project description
Making sense of new e-skin technology
Within the entire wearable technology market, electronic skin is one of the most talked about categories. Flexible, stretchable and self-healing electronics that can mimic functionalities of human skin, it can prove useful for things like on-skin drug delivery systems and smart prosthetics to give amputees the sense of touch. However, there is a lack of fully biocompatible piezoelectric materials – necessary for any e-skin system. The EU-funded PepZoSkin project will develop an ultra-thin, flexible, self-powered e-skin device combining innovative piezoelectric materials, microelectronics and sensors for wearable and implantable applications. It has synthesised radically new peptide-based materials with exceptional piezoelectric performance, mechanical properties and inherent biocompatibility. It will use these materials as an active layer in basic sensing devices.
Objective
Electronic skin is seen as the next generation of wearable technology, ideally made of thin, self-powered, self-healing and flexible electronics able to mimic or augment natural skin functionalities.
Smart prostheses to give amputees the sense of touch, completely biocompatible skin patches for wound care, or new on-skin drug delivery systems are only few e-skin applications that are being explored by the research community for the last several years.
The main problems hindering the e-skin revolution are the lack of fully biocompatible piezoelectric materials, which are the basic component of any e-skin system, and the unavailability of adequate energy harvesting technology, which allows realizing an extremely compact and energy autonomous device.
In the PepZoSkin project, we propose to develop an ultra-thin, flexible, self-powered e-skin device that combines innovative piezoelectric materials, microelectronics and sensors for wearable and implantable applications.
In the frame of the main ERC Grant, we have synthesized radically new peptide-based materials with exceptional piezoelectric performance, unprecedented mechanical properties, and inherent biocompatibility, and used these materials as an active layer in basic sensing devices. In this PoC project, based on these promising results, we will further develop these basic devices to a TRL5 self-powered biocompatible core technology for an e-skin device.
Our vision is to turn our core material into a key component of next generation compact and self-powered wearable and implantable systems, targeting biomedical applications as a market entry point.
The e-skin market is expected to be worth more than 15 B$ by 2028. During this PoC project, together with medical, business and industrial stakeholders, we will focus on the validation of the technological and business feasibility of turning our e-skin prototype into a marketable competitive product, which will be developed and commercialized by a spin-off comp
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternetinternet of things
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicsmicroelectronics
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologyimplants
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpiezoelectrics
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotHost institution
69978 Tel Aviv
Israel