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JANUARY 2019 I FLEX007 MAGAZINE 45 tronics include a soft cotton-like feel, the abil- ity to absorb moisture, biological decomposi- tion such as starch films, etc. The last example involves active electronic circuits as opposed to passive electronic cir- cuits. With the introduction of new exotic materials, the traditional manufacturing line is capable of producing active devices. Figure 3 shows an example of a flexible EL display produced through a screen-printing process. Most of the equipment is very popular in the manufacturing of flexible circuits. Electronic luminescence (EL) material and transparent conductors are the exotic materials used in this construction. The more active devices that are dreamed up, the more the need for new exotic materials. Some of these materials include photovoltaic cells, primary and secondary bat- teries, flexible displays, sensors, actuators, and more. Every new and exotic material brings us closer to flexible electronics. We believe that flexible electronics and printable electronics working in tandem will generate new values for wearable electronics. FLEX007 Dominique K. Numakura is the managing director of DKN Research LLC. To read past columns or contact Numakura, click here. Figure 2: Meandering conductor built on a urethane sheet. Figure 3: Flexible EL display made by screen printing. Dominique Numakura the force of a grasp and the motion of the hand and fin- gers. One novel element of the sensor is a non-toxic, highly conductive liquid solution. "We have developed a new type of conductive liquid that is no more dangerous than a small drop of salt water," said Siyi Xu, a graduate student at SEAS and first author of the paper. "It is four times more conductive than previous biocompatible solutions, leading to cleaner, less noisy data." (Source: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) Children born prematurely often develop neuromotor and cognitive developmental disabilities. The best way to reduce the impacts of those disabilities is to catch them early through a series of cognitive and motor tests. But accurately measuring and recording the motor functions of small children is tricky. Toddlers tend to dislike wearing bulky devices on their hands and have a predilection for ingesting things they shouldn't. Harvard University researchers have developed a soft, non-toxic wearable sensor that unobtrusively attaches to the hand and measures A Safe, Wearable Soft Sensor