"Skin-like" monitor

Product Design & Development (Rockaway, N.J., Sept. 24) -- A new wearable medical device can quickly alert a person if they are having cardiovascular trouble or if it’s simply time to put on some skin moisturizer, reports an Illinois and Northwestern study. "These results provide the first examples of 'epidermal' photonic sensors," said John A. Rogers, the paper's corresponding author and professor of materials science and engineering at Illinois. "This technology significantly expands the range of functionality in skin-mounted devices beyond that possible with electronics alone." Also: Gizmag (Sept. 25), Tech Times (New York City, Sept. 25), Wired UK (Sept. 25), Science 360 (NSF, Sept. 30).