Wearable Pulse Sensor Developed for Health Monitoring

Wearable Pulse Sensor Developed for

Health Monitoring
Reviewed by Megan Craig, M.Sc. Dec 12 2023

Professor Ji-woong Yang from the Department of Energy Science and Engineering at
the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology has achieved a
breakthrough: creating the most powerful eco-friendly quantum dot photosensor
globally, operating without an external power supply.

Image Credit: ACS Nano (2023).

The eco-friendly quantum dot photonic sensor, a result of collaborative efforts between
Professor Moon-kee Choi's team at the Department of New Materials Engineering, Ulsan
National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and Professor Dae-hyeong Kim's
team at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Seoul National
University (under President Hong-lim Ryu), has been confirmed to reliably measure light
signals without relying on any external power source, thanks to its utilization of the
photovoltaic effect.

The collaborative research team has engineered a skin-attachable, remarkably thin pulse
sensor using this photosensor technology. They have introduced a wearable pulse sensor
capable of consistently capturing pulse signals even amidst various deformations. This

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Wearable Pulse Sensor Developed for Health Monitoring

groundbreaking work has been published in the journal ACS Nano.

The COVID-19 epidemic and the aging population have increased demand in recent years
for healthcare monitoring devices that may be worn on the body for extended periods of
time to collect biometric data.

Silicon-based photosensors, despite their functionality, are not widely adopted in practical
applications due to their weight and inflexibility, leading to discomfort during prolonged
wear. Moreover, their inability to establish close skin contact hampers the accurate
acquisition of biometric signals.

Three scientists who discovered and developed quantum dots, commonly referred to as the
seeds of nanoscience, were given this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. With superior
optical and electrical characteristics over conventional semiconductor materials, quantum
dots - ultra-fine semiconductor particles that are only a few nanometers (nm, or one billionth
of a meter) in size - can rapidly separate electrons and electron holes.

Quantum dots have been the subject of extensive photosensor research due to their quick
response time when utilized as a photosensor. Nonetheless, most research employs
quantum dots, such as lead sulfide (PbS), which includes hazardous heavy metals, and the
majority of existing quantum dot photosensors are thicker than a few micrometers.
Therefore, in practice, the dots cannot be used as a wearable photosensor.

Now, the research team has effectively created an ultra-high-performance quantum dot
photosensor based on the environmentally benign, heavy metal-free copper-indium-
selenide (Cu-In-Se) quantum dots. It was widely acknowledged that eco-friendly quantum
dot-based photosensors performed poorly.

Despite these challenges, the research team successfully enhanced the electrical
characteristics of eco-friendly quantum dots by meticulously managing their size and
composition. They also devised a novel organic-inorganic hybrid charge transfer layer
specifically tailored for these dots, creating an eco-friendly quantum dot photosensor that
outperforms existing toxic quantum dot counterparts in terms of performance.

Even with a quantum dot absorption layer as thin as 40 nanometers (nm), the study team’s
environmentally friendly quantum dot photosensor exhibits excellent gadget performance. It
also performs well in terms of light-sensing without the need for an additional power supply.
These two characteristics could be very helpful for the applications and usage of wearable
photosensors.

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Wearable Pulse Sensor Developed for Health Monitoring

The photosensor made on a flexible polymer substrate is combined with a light source by
the research team to create a wearable pulse sensor. Once affixed to the human body, the
sensor has the flexibility to function steadily within a 0.5 mm radius of curvature. It is also
capable of measuring the pulse steadily in a variety of motion-filled scenarios, including
walking and sprinting.

Professor Ji-woong Yang says, “By controlling the structure of eco-friendly quantum dots
and developing a charge transfer layer optimized for the dots, we were able to make a high-
performance eco-friendly quantum dot photosensor.”

“ We were able to create an ultra-thin pulse sensor with high flexibility based
on the eco-friendly quantum dot photosensor that requires no external
power source. It could be used for various next-generation photosensor
applications, such as lidar and infrared cameras, as well as wearable health
care monitoring systems.

Moon-kee Choi, Professor, Department of Materials Science and

Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology

Journal Reference:
Li, S., et al. (2023). Ultrathin Self-Powered Heavy-Metal-Free Cu–In–Se Quantum Dot
Photodetectors for Wearable Health Monitoring. ACS Publications.
/doi/10.1021/acsnano.3c05178

Source: https://www.dgist.ac.kr/en/

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