After the smart bra, the latest creation of Japanese inventors is an organic, flexible sensor that can be fitted to a diaper, making it a smart diaper.
A team of experts from the University of Tokyo took the wraps off an invention, Monday, that can help make the lives of moms and caregivers easier. The scientists have invented a flexible, integrated circuit that can be embedded into a diaper. This thin sheet of organic sensor is powered wirelessly and can transmit information to tell when the diaper needs changing.
The smart diaper technology, created by professors Takao Someya, Takayasu Sakurai and their colleagues, has a bright future since it can be printed using inkjet technology and it only takes a few cents to produce. It also has a big potential in the healthcare and nursing industry.
"If sensing is done electronically, you can tell simply by coming close to the wearer - without unclothing him or her," said Someya.
There are diapers in the market today that have wetness indicators but the wearer's lower garment must still be removed to check and eventually change the nappy. The new technology is engineered to monitor wetness, temperature, pressure, and other factors and can transmit these information so caregivers will know when it's the right time to change.
"The team has succeeded in developing a wirelessly powered flexible wet sensor sheet that transmits data wirelessly by implementing an organic integrated circuit (IC) on top of a polymeric film. Introducing an electromagnetic-resonance method in power transmission for the operation of an organic IC for the first time in the field was key to this achievement," the team said in a press statement [PDF].
At the moment, the data reader can only read the information transmitted by the smart diaper from a few inches away but its inventors plan to tweak it in future versions to make it more practical.
"In the next stages of this work, the reliability and reduction in power consumption will be improved. As for the reliability, by investigating materials and structures of organic diodes used for the electrostatic discharge protection circuit, circuits will withstand at the higher voltage. The further power reductions will be possible by decreasing the operation voltage of the organic diodes in a rectifier circuit," the team added.
The smart diaper is still in prototype phase and is being tested and improved before introducing it to the market. Existing healthcare sensors are mostly made of rigid materials such as silicon that can be very uncomfortable for users. The technology can also be directly applied to an individual's skin to replace devices such as pulse oximeters that measure pulse and the oxygen saturation of the blood. It can also pave the way for a smart Band-Aid.
