New York, Aug 7 : A group of US researchers has developed a stretchable, flexible computing chip that process information by imitating the human brain.The device, as described in the journal Matter is designed to alter the method by which health information is handled.
“With this project, we’ve merged wearable technology with artificial intelligence and machine learning to create a device that can analyze health data directly on our body,” said Sihong Wang who is a materials scientist and assistant professor of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.
At present, getting an in-depth assessment of your health requires visiting an office or hospital.The future is that, Wang said, people’s health can be monitored in real-time by wearable electronic devices that detect illnesses even before symptoms begin to manifest.
Wang’s team created an electronic chip that can collect data from multiple biosensors , and draw conclusions about the health of a person’s health with cutting-edge machine-learning methods.
They wanted that it be wearable and blend seamlessly with the skin.
“With the smart watch there’s always an opening” Wang said.Wang.”We wanted something that could create a very intimate connection and also accommodate the movement of the skin.”
Wang and his group shifted to polymers that could be utilized to create electrochemical transistors and semiconductors, but also have the capability to bend and stretch.
They assembled polymers into a device that allowed the artificial-intelligence-based analysis of health data.
Instead of functioning like an ordinary computer, this chip, known as a neuromorphic computer chip, operates as a human brain that can both store and analyze information in an integrated manner.
To test the efficacy of their latest device, Wang’s team utilized it to analyze electrocardiogram (ECG) data, which represent the electrical activity of the human heart.
The device was trained to categorize ECGs into five types: healthy or four kinds of abnormal ones.Then, they tried it using new ECGs.
No matter if the chip was bent or stretched they demonstrated that it could accurately categorize heartbeats.
More work is required to determine the effectiveness of the gadget in finding trends of health and diseases.
However, in the future it may be employed to send clinicians or patients alerts or to automate the tweaking of the dosage of medications.
“If you could get real-time information about blood pressure for example this device can intelligently decide when to adjust a blood pressure medication levels for the patient,” said Wang.
This kind of feedback loop that is automated is already in use by some insulin pumps that are implantable, he added.
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