Electronics: Flexible circuits that can bend and stretch with their surroundings could have a wide range of uses

Stretchable electronics

A shapely future for circuits

Mar 10th 2011 | from the print edition

FOR years engineers have dreamed of building electronic circuits that would bend and stretch, rather than being confined to rigid chips and boards. Flexible circuitry would be able to do many things that rigid circuits cannot. Stretchable electronic skin could connect an artificial hand to the nervous system. Combat uniforms and helmets containing flexible, lightweight impact sensors could help medics prescribe better treatment if a soldier is wounded in an explosion. A neuroscientist who wants to understand the electrical storm that occurs in the brain of an epileptic patient could watch seizures unfold in real time with a circuit that conforms to the gyri of the brain. Flexible circuits would also make portable devices more resilient; they could be worn like clothing or jewellery rather than carried.
Researchers are pursuing a number of different approaches to making circuitry more pliable.

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