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Zhang Y, Hu Y, Xie B, Yang G, Yin Z, Wu H. Hoffmeister Effect Optimized Hydrogel Electrodes with Enhanced Electrical and Mechanical Properties for Nerve Conduction Studies. RESEARCH (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 2024; 7:0453. [PMID: 39145116 PMCID: PMC11322598 DOI: 10.34133/research.0453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Flexible epidermal electrodes hold substantial promise in realizing human electrophysiological information collections. Conventional electrodes exhibit certain limitations, including the requirement of skin pretreatment, reliance on external object-assisted fixation, and a propensity of dehydration, which severely hinder their applications in medical diagnosis. To tackle those issues, we developed a hydrogel electrode with both transcutaneous stimulation and neural signal acquisition functions. The electrode consists of a composite conductive layer (CCL) and adhesive conductive hydrogel (ACH). The CCL is designed as a laminated structure with high conductivity and charge storage capacity (CSC). Based on the optimization of Hoffmeister effect, the ACH demonstrates excellent electrical (resistivity of 3.56 Ω·m), mechanical (tensile limit of 1,650%), and adhesion properties (peeling energy of 0.28 J). The utilization of ACH as electrode/skin interface can reduce skin contact impedance and noise interference and enhance the CSC and charge injection capacity of electrodes. As a proof of concept, peripheral nerve conduction studies were performed on human volunteers to evaluate the as-fabricated hydrogel electrodes. Compared with the commercial electrodes, our hydrogel electrodes achieved better signal continuity and lower distortion, higher signal-to-noise ratio (~35 dB), and lower stimulation voltages (up to 27% lower), which can improve the safety and comfort of nerve conduction studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Zhouping Yin
- Flexible Electronics Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering,
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Flexible Electronics Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering,
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
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Li L, Xie F, Wang T, Wang G, Tian Y, Jin T, Zhang Q. Stiffness-Tunable Soft Gripper with Soft-Rigid Hybrid Actuation for Versatile Manipulations. Soft Robot 2022; 9:1108-1119. [PMID: 35172109 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2021.0025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Highly flexible and environmentally adaptive soft robots have received considerable attention. There remains a demand for soft robots to realize the stiffness modulation and variable workspace for robust and versatile manipulations. This article presents a compact soft gripper with a polylactic acid-based variable stiffness module (VSM) and a rigid retractable mechanism to achieve soft-rigid hybrid actuation. The soft gripper can enhance its stiffness by 18-fold without sacrificing flexibility due to the VSM. A heating circuit is designed to divide the VSM into three regions. Each region can be activated separately for varying flexible segments to amplify the dexterity. Meanwhile, the water-cooling system accelerates the heat exchange, thus reducing the cooling time from ∼400 to 39 s. The rigid retractable mechanism can adjust the initial layout of the gripper to expand the workspace and perform manipulation by opening and closing fingers. The soft finger combined with stiffness tunability can maintain its deformation after being stiffened to realize morphing. Therefore, it can efficiently perform a grasp with a high load and avoid repeated heating and cooling, especially for items with a similar shape. The performance of the gripper is further validated by measuring the grasping force and grasping demonstration with various objects, showing its robustness and dexterity in versatile tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Long Li
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.,School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fengming Xie
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tianhong Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.,School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Guopeng Wang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Aerospace Intelligence Control Technology, Shanghai Aerospace Control Technology Institute, Shanghai, China
| | - Yingzhong Tian
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tao Jin
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.,School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
| | - Quan Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.,School of Artificial Intelligence, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
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Bao L, Han C, Li G, Chen J, Wang W, Yang H, Huang X, Guo J, Wu H. Flexible Electronic Skin for Monitoring of Grasping State During Robotic Manipulation. Soft Robot 2022; 10:336-344. [PMID: 36037018 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2022.0014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Electronic skin for robotic tactile sensing has been studied extensively over the past years, yet practical applications of electronic skin for the grasping state monitoring during robotic manipulation are still limited. In this study, we present the fabrication and implementation of electronic skin sensor arrays for the detection of unstable grasping. The piezoresistive sensor arrays have the advantages of facile fabrication, fast response, and high reliability. With the tactile data from the sensor array, we propose two quantitative indicators, correlation coefficient and wavelet coefficient, to identify grasping with variable forces and slippage. Those two indicators reflect both time and frequency domain characteristics in the contact forces from the sensor array and can be obtained without large amount of calculation. We demonstrate the utility of this method under various conditions, the results indicate grasping with variable forces, and slippage can be distinguished by this method. The flexible sensor arrays are adopted for tactile sensing on a bionic hand, and the effectiveness of this method in detecting various grasping states has been verified. The electronic skin sensor array and the grasping state monitoring method are promising for applications in robotic dexterous manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lusheng Bao
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Flexible Electronics Research Center, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Cheng Han
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Flexible Electronics Research Center, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Guolin Li
- Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center, Guangdong Midea Air-Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, Foshan, China
| | - Jun Chen
- Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center, Guangdong Midea Air-Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, Foshan, China
| | - Wenqiang Wang
- Intelligent Manufacturing Research Center, Guangdong Midea Air-Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, Foshan, China
| | - Hao Yang
- Media Group Wuhan Refrigeration Equipment Co., Ltd, Wuhan, China
| | - Xin Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Flexible Electronics Research Center, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jiajie Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Flexible Electronics Research Center, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Hao Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Flexible Electronics Research Center, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Facile preparation of wearable heater based on conductive silver paste with low actuation voltage and rapid response. SN APPLIED SCIENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42452-020-03867-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022] Open
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Wan F, He H, Zeng S, Du J, Wang Z, Gu H, Xiong J. Silver nanowire network for flexible transparent electrodes based on spray coating at a low DC electric field and plasma treatment. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2020; 31:325302. [PMID: 32340005 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab8d66] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Flexible transparent electrodes have been fabricated successfully by using a metal nanowire network. Despite its higher conductivity and transparency, raw silver nanowire (AgNW) film suffers from the random arrangement and high surface roughness originating from the overlaps of a few tens of nanometer-thick AgNWs. In this work, a facile and environmentally friendly method is developed to form AgNW flexible transparent electrodes by spray coating at a low DC electric field (less than 6.0 V) and subsequent plasma treatment. The DC voltage, plasma power, and plasma treatment time of the AgNW network are optimized. The obtained electrodes fabricated by this technique exhibited excellent flexible, transparent, and flat junctions of AgNWs with a sheet resistance of 4.64 Ω · sq-1 and a specular transmittance of 87.3% at a wavelength of 550 nm. Furthermore, the AgNW electrodes are very flexible, highly durable, and moiré-free. The resistance remains almost unchanged over 500 cycles of mechanical deformation with a bending distance of 14 mm when its size is 20 × 20 mm. The as-prepared AgNW electrodes exhibited a root mean square roughness below 13.07 nm at a scan size of 5 × 5 μm. We propose that the improved properties can be attributed to the well-arranged AgNW network acheived by applying a DC electric field and a flat connection between the AgNW junctions induced by plasma treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangcheng Wan
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Ferro & Piezoelectric Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Faculty of Physics & Electronic Science, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People's Republic of China
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Smart Devices Based on the Soft Actuator with Nafion-Polypropylene-PDMS/Graphite Multilayer Structure. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/app10051829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The demand for multi-functional soft actuators with simple fabrication and fast response to multiple stimuli is increasing in the field of smart devices. However, for existing actuators that respond to a single stimulus, it is difficult to meet the requirements of application diversity. Herein, a type of multi-stimulus responsive soft actuator based on the Nafion-Polypropylene-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/Graphite multilayer membranes is proposed. Such actuators have an excellent reversible response to optical/thermal and humidity stimulation, which can reach a 224.56° bending angle in a relative humidity of 95% within 5 s and a maximum bending angle of 324.65° in 31 s when the platform temperature is 80 °C, and has a faster response (<0.5 s) to optical stimuli, as an asymmetric structure allows it to bend in both directions. Based on such an actuator, some applications like flexible grippers and switches to carry items or control circuits, bionic flytraps to capture and release “prey”, have also been developed and studied. These provide potential applications in the fields of soft sensors, artificial skin and flexible robots.
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