Researchers have used a standard sewing machine to create this new type of low-cost flexible metal interconnect for “soft” robotics, wearable electronics and implantable medical systems that might be made of elastic materials capable of extreme stretching. Competing approaches require the use of complicated and expensive microfabrication techniques or exotic technologies such as liquid-metal-filled microchannels and ultrathin wires prone to breaking. (Credit: Purdue University photo/Babak Ziaie)
Read: Simple Sewing Machine Has High-Tech Role in Future ‘Soft’ Machines
The interconnect is capable of stretching 500 percent of its length, which could allow for new applications. Researchers used their technique to demonstrate a stretchable “inductive strain sensor” for monitoring expansion of an inflatable urinary catheter balloon. Such an elastic technology could have applications in stretchable garments that people might wear to interact with computers or for therapeutic purposes. (Credit: Purdue University photo/Babak Ziaie)