Researcher develops wearable sensor technology
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Yi Hyun-jung
By Lee Min-hyung
Yi Hyun-jung, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), has developed key technology for wearable sensors to be used in health care products, the state-run research institute reported Thursday.
“We have succeeded in developing a bio-sensing platform technology by using nano- and bio-materials which are harmless to human bodies,” Yi said.
Yi, 37, studied material engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and is now leading a research team to develop bio-sensor-related technology at KIST.
By using the bio-sensing platform, body fluids such as sweat and tears can be analyzed by researchers to obtain chemical information. This will then be used to analyze the health of people, according to the research team.
KIST said this breakthrough is meaningful as bio-sensing technology is expected to pave the way for further development of wearable devices in the health care sector.
In particular, the research team said the technology, using direct-electron-transfer (DET), does not use chemical materials, which means it can be easily applied to wearable devices.
This comes amid the growing appetite for wearable devices to be used in tracking health. But wearable sensors have so far failed to monitor body fluids and only have limited access to chemical information of the body, the research team said.
The latest development, however, enables full access to body information with the nanomesh enzyme platform.
The technology will enable wider use in developing next-generation healthcare devices, according to KIST.
The result of Professor Yi’s work was published in the science journal Advanced Materials, Monday.