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  • WHERE I WORK

Mimicking of human skin to build wearable sensors

Yichen Cai creates thin, flexible devices that could have myriad uses, from wearable blood-pressure monitors to touch sensors for robots.
  1. Linda Nordling

    1. Linda Nordling is a freelance writer in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Yichen Cai in the KAUST labs holding a silicon wafer.

Yichen Cai is a materials scientist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Credit: Anastasia Serin/KAUST

I am a materials scientist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, and my work involves creating thin, flexible, conductive films that mimic human skin. This ‘e-skin’ has many potential applications, especially in health care, where it can be used to build wearable sensors to measure things such as blood pressure, movement and body temperature. It could also allow robots to sense touch, like humans do, or deliver drugs into the body.

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Nature 617, 430 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01553-5

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