AUGMENTED SENSES

MICROFLUIDIC PH SENSING SKIN

Our skin, the largest sensory organ we have is constantly being exposed to the environment. It forms a protective barrier between our internal system and the external world. Our sense of touch is controlled by a large network of nerve endings and touch receptors in the skin.

Shower gel, hand wash, body lotion, body oil, face lotion; these are all products we apply to our skin on a daily basis without really understanding what effect they have on our skin. When our skin doesn’t maintain a balanced pH, the physiological protective ‘acid mantle’ gets irritated. The acid mantle is a protective barrier on the surface of the skin composed of sweat, skin oils and dead skin cells. It gives our skin its pH.

Cabbage dye is a natural method used to determine pH. This wearable combines micrfluidic technology with a natural pH sensing method to determine the pH of different chemicals. Microfluidic devices are formed of small scale liquid channels connected together to achieve a desired function, redirecting, mixing and pumping of fluids.

This ‘second skin’ contains flexible microfluidic patches made of silicone that are connected to tubes of cabbage dye, which when mixed with other testing fluids, change the colour of the cabbage dye. A skin able to determine the pH of anything.