Stretchable printed circuit for flexible, customisable and comfortable medical wearables

Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd has revealed an innovative new stretchable printed circuit (SPC) technology that marks a notable development in printed circuit technology. Its SPC represents the next advancement in substrate development, providing flexibility and the capability to stretch and deform while maintaining full functionality. It is ideal for creating advanced medical products, like wearable therapeutic devices and vital monitoring tools, that deliver better accuracy, durability, and patient comfort than today's equivalent devices.

The SPC excels in its inherent flexibility, stretchability, and ability to adapt, supporting multi-sensing functionalities to address diverse user needs. The material is incredibly soft and gentle on the skin, making it ideal for medical and wellness devices like EEG, EMG, and ECG. Its stretchable nature can enable a single device to accommodate various body areas and patients of different sizes, allowing continuous monitoring applications more easily in previously challenging areas such as elbows or knee joints.

Engineered with cutting-edge capabilities, including printing stretchable electrodes compliant with ANSI/AAMI EC12 standards, SPC paves the way for next-generation medical devices. It accomplishes seamless integration and optimal performance through innovative telescopic component mounting and hybrid bonding technology between substrates. By effectively blocking EMI noise, the unique shield layer offers reliable protection for the signal path. Also, the substrate construction demonstrates excellent reliability, with high resistance to moisture and the ability to withstand high voltages for long durations while allowing for more flexibility in component mounting, offering designers more freedom to innovate.

The company's SPC can be tailored to fulfil individual customer specifications with the help of its extensive range of resources to facilitate collaborative product development. This can be harnessed by product designers, allowing them to optimise their designs. It can further support development by conducting tests in various conditions and resolving failure modes by identifying their root causes. Depending on the needed specifications, filters, amplifiers, and multiple sensors can be mounted on a single sheet, enabling accurate data acquisition and sensing of several items. With this solution, the company performs custom design, prototyping and verification, and mass production based on the required specifications.