Solutions
The SusFE R2R manufacturing platform design incorporates a novel, flexible integrated circuit (FlexIC) on polymer and textile substrates, ultra-low power, printed sensors/bio sensors and wireless communication driven by an organic, recyclable, bio-enzymatic fuel cell. The integration of these materials and technologies will enable the production of new, lightweight, environmentally sustainable and low cost devices, to be demonstrated via four use cases: a smart, wound monitoring bandage with sensors; an intelligent, paper hybrid blood-self sampling device; and a point-of-care diagnostics device that uses electrochemical detection to identify different biomarkers and cardio-metabolic monitoring (see Figure 1.).
To date, the SusFE consortium has achieved a series of notable outcomes on the project.
Use cases
A wound monitoring patch composed of a reusable part comprising fuel cell/battery and radio-frequency identification (RFID), and a disposable part integrated with pH and humidity sensor. The disposable part of the wound monitoring patches was fabricated using standard photolithography in a R2R method on commercial, flexible foil.
A blood self-sampling card that consists of a microfluidic laminate that allows passive removal of red blood cells from finger prick blood and metering of the generated plasma/serum. Integration of electrodes, a bio-enzymatic fuel cell and FlexIC in the card will allow registration of the time of sampling, and wireless transmission of the sampling signal through an RFID tag which will allow use for therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical trials and healthcare.
Multimodal sensing from a textile integrated electrode array has been developed and prototyped, and the initial hypothesis of multimodal sensory recording using the data acquisition testbed trialled. The electrode was used in a series of experiments with human volunteers to examine its characteristics, and determine the influence of sensor placement on the quality of recorded signals, and the feasibility of extracting the targeted biomarkers for blood testing in a repeatable, reliable manner. Current work is identifying and analysing biodegradable inks that can be used for the prototyping of the next iterations of the multi electrode sensor arrays.
Work on the point-of-care device has focused on developing the electrochemical (EC) sensing, mainly investigating suitable substrate materials, printing inks, insulators and strategies for immobilising antibodies on the electrodes. Options for the fabrication of fluidic structures by using sustainable materials have also been studied.
R2R manufacturing platform
Three design, manufacturing and testing cycles of increasing complexity, each with regular internal design reviews to ensure the quality of the delivered system, have been planned for the SusFE platform. Work is now in progress to integrate various components into the R2R manufacturing system which, when built, will be tested and validated, and life cycle cost analysis undertaken. Two different biodegradable, film substrates were tested to assess their compatibility for inclusion in the lithography process for manufacture of the copper wiring required, and this identified some issues with adhesion between the deposited metallic layers and the base substrates.