PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've developed a transparent, stretchable skinlike sensor as part of a quest to create an artificial "super skin."
Scientists at Stanford University, under the leadership of chemical engineering professor Zhenan Bao, have developed the thin film from single-walled carbon nanotubes that act as tiny springs, enabling the sensor to accurately measure any force applied to it whether it's being stretch or squished, a Stanford release said Monday.
"This sensor can register pressure ranging from a firm pinch between your thumb and forefinger to twice the pressure exerted by an elephant standing on one foot," Darren Lipomi, a postdoctoral researcher in Bao's lab, said
"None of it causes any permanent deformation," he said.
Such skin-like sensors could be used in making touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs or other medical applications such as pressure-sensitive bandages or in touch screens on computers, the researchers said.
