"While other skin electronics devices have been developed by researchers, what has not been demonstrated before is the mechanical-acoustic coupling of our device to the body through the skin," said CU Boulder assistant professor Jae-Woong Jeong. "Our goal is to make this device practical enough to use in our daily lives."
The researchers say the device can pick up mechanical waves that propagate through tissues and fluids in the human body due to natural physiological activity, revealing characteristic acoustical signatures of individual events. These include the opening and closing of heart valves, vibrations of the vocal cords and movements in gastrointestinal tracts. The researchers could even detect the acoustical signals of blood clots in a related lab experiment, according to Jeong.
Jeong believes, even though the sensor was wired to an external data acquisition system for the tests, it could be converted into a wireless device. Such sensors could be useful in remote, noisy places – including battlefields – producing quiet, high-quality cardiology or speech signals that could be read in real time at distant medical facilities.
"Using the data from these sensors, a doctor at a hospital far away from a patient would be able to make a fast, accurate diagnosis," Jeong added.
Vocal cord vibration signals could be used to control robots, vehicles or drones. According to Jeong, the speech recognition capabilities of the sensor could improve communication for people suffering from speech impairments.