We all know that the skin is the largest organ in our body, and it also the organ that provides the gateway between our brain and the surrounding environment. The skin also shields us against extreme conditions. But what happens when the skin gets damaged, burnt, or eroded? The quickest option anyone would pick is skin grafting.
Well, another option has arisen; and this is the Bionic skin (also called Electronic Skin or E-skin)
The invention was led by Dr Takao Someya from the University of Tokyo, Japan. This invention is set to bring new hope to people with skin challenge, and also adding other cool feature that would confer new powers on the recipient.
Nature of the bionic Skin
The skin is as light as feather, yet it is almost indestructible by external forces. This invention is set to revolutionize the field of medical science. Also, the skin is incorporated with microsensors that will make them to mimic the functionalities of the normal biological skin, even better.
Note: This is quite different from synthetic skin. Synthetic skin is more like an artificial skin made to look like the biological skin. And synthetic skin is not tweaked with super powers. It is also majorly used for robots, but the bionic skin is designed for humans.
How does the bionic skin achieve sensation?
The biological skin is a very complicated organ. Among other functions; it feels touch, pressure, and temperature. This is because, in every Ten Square Feet of skin, there are about 1 million receptors. Now, replicating these receptors in bionic skin would be a little tricky. Because, wiring 1 million sensors directly into the bionic skin will kill the flexibility of the skin. Instead, the skin is fitted with flexible organic dinaphtho thieno thiophene (DNTT).
The dinaphtho thieno thiophene (DNTT) can detect temperatures ranging from 25 degrees to 80 degree Celsius. Can the biological skin do that?
The rise of super sensitive skin in medicine
This is the path that is being towed in the field of medical science, especially in the area of plastic surgery. This is the skin that will serve both as therapeutic and cosmetic uses. With other complimentary benefits too. Another major advance that is being done to the E-skin is to make it biodegradable. That means, once it is transplanted, there wouldn’t be need to remove it again. And it will still maintain all the functionalities. But more importantly, the stretchiness should not be compromised
Potential applications of Bionic skin
Because of the microsensors embedded into it, it can serve the following purposes, among others
- Monitor the vitals of the body
- Could detect signals directly from the brain and use it to control other bionic implants
- Monitor oxygen level
- Keeps track of the blood pressure
The applications are much. This is the benefit of living in the era of technology
Hail Technology
