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The Conversation
The Conversation
Krittika Goyal, Assistant Professor of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology

Skin phantoms help researchers improve wearable devices without people wearing them

Skin 'phantoms' are an inexpensive alternative to testing on people. Diana Bachu/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Wearable devices have become a big part of modern health care, helping track a patient’s heart rate, stress levels and brain activity. These devices rely on electrodes, sensors that touch the skin to pick up electrical signals from the body.

Creating these electrodes isn’t as easy as it might seem. Human skin is complex. Its properties, such as how well it conducts electricity, can change depending on how hydrated it is, how old you are or even the weather. These changes can make it hard to test how well a wearable device works.

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