3D-printed fibers monitor breathing and PPE ‘leakage’

A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge (UK) has developed 3D-printed electronic fibers, reportedly capable of recording smells, sounds and feelings. The 3D printing technique, outlined in Science Advances, manufactures transparent, conducting fibers 100 times smaller than a human hair – a vast improvement on conventional film-based sensor devices, according to the team. With high-sensitivity and produced at relatively low cost, the team envisions the sensors being used as non-contact, wearable, portable respiratory sensors, reporting breath pattern information via data, sound and images by mobile phone. When testing the sensors, the team tested the amount of breath moisture...