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In a new paper in Advanced Materials, researchers at the University of Connecticut describe a new sensor embedded in a layer of silicone skin that can help burns "feel" again and even impart superhuman sensory perception.
Using nanoparticles of iron oxide to generate a sensory signal
The chemists Islam Mosa and James Rusling, of the University of Connecticut, in collaboration with Abdelsalam Ahmed, an engineer at the University of Toronto, have created a mechanism that can generate a sensation similar to the way our skin feels pressure, heat, cold, vibration and other physical changes. .
Using silicone tubes filled with a fluid composed of iron oxide nanoparticles or particles less than one-billionth of a meter long and wrapped in copper wire, the researchers were able to create a mechanism that replicates what we like to feel about environmental change. .
When the fluid inside the silicone tube moves, it rubs against the silicone, creating an electric current that is then picked up by the copper wire as an electrical signal.
In addition, various changes such as pressure, sound, heat, or vibration produce different characteristic movements of the fluid, generating different signals. In this way, a silicone skin user could perceive the differences between different types of environmental change.
Go beyond the human senses
Human skin has all kinds of mechanisms for detecting its environment, but there are things that it can not necessarily feel. When making the new sensor, Mosa hoped that he could do more than just mimic human skin. "It would be very cool if she had abilities that human skin does not have; for example, the ability to detect magnetic fields, sound waves and abnormal behaviors, "said Mosa.
The team found that magnetic fields in particular altered the way the fluid moved sufficiently distinctly to distinguish itself from pressure or sound. This opened the possibility to some kind of early warning mechanism for industry workers working around very powerful magnetic fields.
The skin being also waterproof, they also suggested using it as a form of early warning system for parents in case their children would fall into deep water, such as a pool.
The next step for researchers is to create a flat profile for the skin so that it looks more like real skin, as well as test it against heat and cold, although they expect a response from the skin. two, given the impact of temperature on fluid dynamics and electrical conductivity.
The value of feeling our environment
The sense of touch that we feel under the effect of pressure, heat and other stimuli is something that we take for granted as a human being, but that is one of the most essential senses we have to stay safe. The pain, however unpleasant, warns us of danger, as does heat and cold.
If it's good not to feel the pain of a serious burn, the worst would be to continue exposing our skin to an excessively high temperature that destroys it and exposes us to potentially life-threatening infections.
For burn victims, it is a very real problem because the scar tissue that forms on heavily burned areas loses the ability to feel these important stimuli.
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