Scalable Manufacturing of Multi-Material Nanocomposite Wearable Systems
Abstract
Combat readiness, retention on duty, and rapid return to service post-injury are three essential pillars that support U.S. military,capabilities and lethality while ensuring overmatch against adversarial forces. Yet, musculoskeletal ,re incurred during physical training, tactical training, in service, or recreational activities although non-life-threatening, are,operations to reliably assess warfighter physical function, performance, and MSK health in real-time. One approach that enables the,holistic monitoring of warfighter MSK health and performance is through the use of distributed wearable skin-strain sensors. The PI,and his team, through ONR funding, has successfully developed and validateda disposable, self-adhesive, elastic, fabric-based, senso,r that can be affixed practically anywhere on the body to measure distributed skin-strains. The approach was to deposit strain-sensi,tive graphene nanosheet (GNS) nanocomposite strain sensors onto self-adhesive kinesiology tape. GNS thin films were designed to exhi,bit high strain sensitivity, repeatability, and minimal measurement drift compared to similar designs based on other nanomaterials.,This design results in a unidirectionally stretchable wearable sensor, termed Motion Tape, which can directly measure skin-strains, during movement. Motion Tapes sensing performance has been extensively characterized in the laboratory, and human subject validati,on tests have been performed with participants wearing Motion Tape on the biceps, triceps, shoulders, wrist, finger, back, knee, ank,le, foot, calves, gluteal, and leg. Despite these successes, repeatable, automated, and scalable manufacturing methods need to be de,vised to fabricateMotion Tapes (or other nanocomposite wearables) quickly, at low cost, and with consistent sensing properties. It i,s crucial to bridge this technology gap before Motion Tape and other thin-film-based wearables could be effectively translated to th,e commercial sector for military and civilian use.Acquisition of the Fujifilm Dimatrix Materials DMP-2850 multi-material printer sys,tem will directly enhance ongoing and planned ONR research projects on developing next-generation wearable sensors for warfighter pe,rformance monitoring. In particular, the DMP-2850 provides a powerful platform for precision printing of materials, jetting analysis,, and fluid development for, specifically, research and development work in academia and industry. The DMP-2850 employs drop-on-dema,nd piezoelectric inkjet technology, which allows one to deposit a diverse range of fluid materials onto a variety of substrates. The, printer also offers a plethora of useful features that increase the accuracy and precision of the print. Overall, the DMP-2850 is a, cost-effective, easy-to-use, precision materials deposition system that enables scalable manufacturing of novel materials and nanoc,omposites, such as Motion Tape. The printer will address manufacturing issues of novel nanocomposite wearable sensors and help advan,ce the technology readiness level of Motion Tape for field testing, clinical studies, and deployment. The printer also enables the P,I to investigate other materials and more sophisticated sensing modalities while creating an entirely new array of possible future r,esearch opportunities and collaborations, especially with relevant Department of Defense (DoD) partners nationwide. Availability of,such a system in a university setting also strongly positions the PI to develop new educational content and hands-on laboratory modu,les that introduce students to inkjet-based nanocomposite manufacturing technologies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212367
Entities
People
- Kenneth J. Loh
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, San Diego