Smart touch

Endowing textiles with perceptual function, similar to human skin, is crucial for the development of next-generation smart wearables. To date, the creation of perceptual textiles capable of sensing potential dangers and accurately pinpointing finger touch remains elusive. In this study, we present the design and fabrication of intelligent perceptual textiles capable of electrically responding to external dangers and precisely detecting human touch, based on conductive silk fibroin-based ionic hydrogel (SIH) fibers...

Reversible adhesives are widely needed in our daily lives and industrial applications. However, robust and switchable adhesion on rough surfaces with on-demand attachment and detachment remains highly challenging. Here, we report a snail-mucus-inspired touch-responsive hydrogel (TRH), whose universal and robust adhesion is triggered by simple contact with the attaching surface. TRH is composed of a polymeric hydrogel and saturated sodium acetate (NaAc) and is prepared by one-pot synthesis. At room temperature, TRH remains in an amorphous and soft state, which allows it to conformally adapt to rough surfaces...

BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is a well-established treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). Fluoroscopy, a widely used imaging method for RFCA, has significant implications for human health. Although no fluoroscopy or near-zero fluoroscopy strategies have gained popularity, they have limitations, such as long procedure times, additional equipment, and expertise. A simple and cost-effective radiation reduction method is needed for treating AF and is compatible with the daily workflow...

Introduction: It is crucial to identify neurodevelopmental disorders in infants early on for timely intervention to improve their long-term outcomes. Combining natural play with quantitative measurements of developmental milestones can be an effective way to swiftly and efficiently detect infants who are at risk of neurodevelopmental delays. Clinical studies have established differences in toy interaction behaviors between full-term infants and pre-term infants who are at risk for cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders...

The quest for effective and reliable methods of delivering medications, with the aim of improving delivery of therapeutic agent to the intended location has presented a demanding yet captivating field in biomedical research. The concept of smart drug delivery systems is an evolving therapeutic approach, serving as a model for directing drugs to specific targets or sites. These systems have been developed to specifically target and regulate the administration of therapeutic substances in a diverse array of chronic conditions, including periodontitis, diabetes, cardiac diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and different cancers...

Large-area metamorphic stretchable sensor networks are desirable in haptic sensing and next-generation electronics. Triboelectric nanogenerator-based self-powered tactile sensors in single-electrode mode constitute one of the best solutions with ideal attributes. However, their large-area multiplexing utilizations are restricted by severe misrecognition between sensing nodes and high-density internal circuits. Here, we provide an electrical signal shielding strategy delivering a large-area multiplexing self-powered untethered triboelectric electronic skin (UTE-skin) with an ultralow misrecognition rate (0...

The industrial control and automation sector has invested in the development and standardization of new wireless (WirelessHART, ISA 100.11a, and WIA-PA) and wired (Profibus/Profinet, Modbus, and LonWORK) solutions aimed at automating processes to support standard monitoring and control functions from the perspective of addressing critical applications, as well as those integrated within the Building Internet of Things (BIoT) concept. Distributed data acquisition and control systems allow modern installations to monitor and control devices remotely...

In the context of 6G technology, the Internet of Everything aims to create a vast network that connects both humans and devices across multiple dimensions. The integration of smart healthcare, agriculture, transportation, and homes is incredibly appealing, as it allows people to effortlessly control their environment through touch or voice commands. Consequently, with the increase in Internet connectivity, the security risk also rises. However, the future is centered on a six-fold increase in connectivity, necessitating the development of stronger security measures to handle the rapidly expanding concept of IoT-enabled metaverse connections...

Embedded sensors in smart devices pose privacy risks, often unintentionally leaking user information. We investigate how combining an ambient light sensor with a device display can capture an image of touch interaction without a camera. By displaying a known video sequence, we use the light sensor to capture reflected light intensity variations partially blocked by the touching hand, formulating an inverse problem similar to single-pixel imaging. Because of the sensors' heavy quantization and low sensitivity, we propose an inversion algorithm involving an ℓ p -norm dequantizer and a deep denoiser as natural image priors, to reconstruct images from the screen's perspective...

With the growing demand for eco-friendly materials in wearable smart electronic devices, renewable, biocompatible, and low-cost hydrogels based on natural polymers have attracted much attention. Cellulose, as one of the renewable and degradable natural polymers, shows great potential in wearable smart electronic devices. Multifunctional conductive cellulose-based hydrogels are designed for flexible electronic devices by adding sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and MXene into polyacrylic acid networks. The multifunctional hydrogels possess excellent mechanical property (stress: 310 kPa; strain: 1127 %), toughness (206...

OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel set of gestural automatisms related to the use of digital screens on smartphones and tablets in patients with epilepsy. METHODS: Representative patients were selected from among those admitted to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at the Toronto Western Hospital between April 2016 and January 2020, and included if they exhibited automatisms clearly related to or mimicking digital device use. RESULTS: In total 5 patients were included, 4 female...

The medical management of chronic canine pruritic dermatologic conditions is challenging and often frustrating. This is a report that shows one way of aiding the management of pruritic dogs using a remote monitoring device. It is often difficult for veterinarians to get dog owners to return to the clinic once a dog is treated. It is possible that a 3-D accelerometer device could provide information to the clinic staff on the success or failure of a pruritus treatment plan while the dog was cared for at home...

One-third of the food produced worldwide is wasted annually and never consumed, of which ≈ 40-50% are perishable vegetables and fruits (VFs). Although various methods are proposed to reduce this loss, high manufacturing costs and food safety concerns pose significant challenges for the preservation of VFs. Herein, a respiration-triggered, self-saving strategy for the preservation of perishable products based on a biomolecular Schiff base composite fabricated by imidization of chitosan and cinnamaldehyde (CS-Cin) is reported...

The rapid development of artificial intelligent wearable devices has led to an increasing need for seamless information exchange between humans, machines, and virtual spaces, often relying on touch sensors as the primary interaction medium. Additionally, the demand for underwater detection technologies is on the rise owing to the prevalent wet and submerged environment. Here, a fiber-based capacitive sensor with superior stretchability and hydrophobicity is proposed, designed to cater to noncontact and underwater applications...

Industrially scalable pressure-sensitive smart textile sensors have been developed using graphite-polyurethane (G-PU) composite materials by the plasma-assisted dip-pad-dry-cure method. The advantage of this technique is that it is easy, simple, and suitable for high-volume production with industrially available machinery. The sandwich structure sensor has been constructed with the pressure-sensitive textile semiconductor and embroidery electrodes for manufacturing a single sensor and sensor matrix, which can detect touch, pressure, movement, etc...

BACKGROUND: Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) represents a new, nonthermal ablation energy for the ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). Ablation energies producing thermal injury are associated with an inflammatory response, platelet activation, and coagulation activation. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the systemic response in patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using pulsed-field and radiofrequency (RF) energy. METHODS: Patients with AF indicated for PVI were enrolled and randomly assigned to undergo PVI using RF (CARTO Smart Touch, Biosense Webster) or pulsed-field (Farapulse, Boston-Scientific) energy...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Central/ultra-central thoracic tumors are challenging to treat with stereotactic radiotherapy due potential high-grade toxicity. Stereotactic MR-guided adaptive radiation therapy (SMART) may improve the therapeutic window through motion control with breath-hold gating and real-time MR-imaging as well as the option for daily online adaptive replanning to account for changes in target and/or organ-at-risk (OAR) location. MATERIALS/METHODS: 26 central (19 ultra-central) thoracic oligoprogressive/oligometastatic tumors treated with isotoxic (OAR constraints-driven) 5-fraction SMART (median 50 Gy, range 35-60) between 10/2019-10/2022 were reviewed...

Large vesicle extrusion from neurons may contribute to spreading pathogenic protein aggregates and promoting inflammatory responses, two mechanisms leading to neurodegenerative disease. Factors that regulate extrusion of large vesicles, such as exophers produced by proteostressed C. elegans touch neurons, are poorly understood. Here we document that mechanical force can significantly potentiate exopher extrusion from proteostressed neurons. Exopher production from the C. elegans ALMR neuron peaks at adult day 2 or 3, coinciding with the C...

BACKGROUND: High-power short-duration (HPSD) ablation strategy has emerged as a popular approach for treating atrial fibrillation (AF), with shorter ablation time. The utilized Smart Touch Surround Flow (STSF) catheter, with 56 holes around the electrode, lowers electrode-tissue temperature and thrombus risk. Thus, we conducted this prospective, randomized study to investigate if the HPSD strategy with STSF catheter in AF ablation procedures reduces the silent cerebral embolism (SCE) risk compared to the conventional approach with the Smart Touch (ST) catheter...

Bioinspired artificial skins integrated with reliable human-machine interfaces and stretchable electronic systems have attracted considerable attention. However, the current design faces difficulties in simultaneously achieving satisfactory skin-like mechanical compliance and self-powered multimodal sensing. Here, we report a microphase-separated bicontinuous ionogel which possesses skin-like mechanical properties and mimics the multimodal sensing ability of biological skin by ion-driven stimuli-electricity conversion...