Personalized healthcare (PHC) is a booming sector in the health science domain wherein researchers from diverse technical backgrounds are focusing on the need for remote human health monitoring. PHC employs wearable electronics, viz. group of sensors integrated on a flexible substrate, embedded in the clothes, or attached to the body via adhesive. PHC wearable flexible electronics (FE) offer numerous advantages including being versatile, comfortable, lightweight, flexible, and body conformable. However, finding the appropriate mass manufacturing technologies for these PHC devices is still a challenge. It needs an understanding of the physics, performance, and applications of printing technologies for PHC wearables, ink preparation, and bio-compatible device fabrication. Moreover, the detailed study of the operating principle, ink, and substrate materials of the printing technologies such as inkjet printing will help identify the opportunities and emerging challenges of applying them in manufacturing of PHC wearable devices. In this article, we attempt to bridge this gap by reviewing the printing technologies in the PHC domain, especially inkjet printing in depth. This article presents a brief review of the state-of-the-art wearable devices made by various printing methods and their applications in PHC. It focuses on the evaluation and application of these printing technologies for PHC wearable FE devices, along with advancements in ink preparation and bio-compatible device fabrication. The performance of inkjet, screen, gravure, and flexography printing, as well as the inks and substrates, are comparatively analyzed to aid PHC wearable sensor design, research, fabrication, and mass manufacturing. Moreover, it identifies the application of the emerging mass-customizable printing technologies, such as inkjet printing, in the manufacturing of PHC wearable devices, and reviews the printing principles, drop generation mechanisms, ink formulations, ink-substrate interactions, and matching strategies for printing wearable devices on stretchable substrates. Four surface matching strategies are extracted from literature for the guidance of inkjet printing of PHC stretchable electronics. The electro-mechanical performance of the PHC FE devices printed using four surface matching strategies is comparatively evaluated. Further, the article extends its review by describing the scalable integration of PHC devices and finally presents the future directions of research in printing technologies for PHC wearable devices.
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Progress in Inkjet-Printed Sensors and Antennas
In recent years, inkjet printing has become a popular form for creating sensors and antennas. These devices are fabricated using different materials with inkjet printing using various (conductive, oxide, biological) inks on predominantly flexible substrate. This form of fabrication has attracted much attention for a variety of reasons such as relatively cheap cost of manufacturing and materials, as well as the ease of use and high customization. These devices also provide a lighter frame and added flexibility allowing them to be incorporated as devices on non-planar surfaces. It is also possible for inkjet printing to be used as a sustainable manufacturing method, providing a method of reducing electronic waste. In this article, several topics related to inkjet printing are covered. These topics include a general overview of the fabrication process of inkjet devices through an inkjet printer, recent applications of inkjet-printed sensors, applications of inkjet-printed antennae, challenges in inkjet printing, and an outlook on the inkjet printing. In the fabrication section, the different materials and printing process are explored. Topics covered in the application section include gas sensors, biomedical sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors, glucose sensors, and more. In the inkjet antennas portion of the article, RFID tagging and 5G applications are highlighted. The main challenges covered are specific to fabrication that are being currently addressed.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2104513
- PAR ID:
- 10542133
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Electrochemical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Electrochemical Society Interface
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1064-8208
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 61 to 71
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- sensors inkjet printing antennas progress
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1149/2.F12234IF
