The growing usage and consumption of electronics-integrated items into the daily routine has raised concerns on the disposal and proper recycling of these components. Here, a fully sustainable and green technology for the fabrication of different electronics on fruit-waste derived paper substrate, is reported. The process relies on the carbonization of the topmost surface of different cellulose-based substrates, derived from apple-, kiwi-, and grape-based processes, by a CO 2 laser. By optimizing the lasing parameters, electronic devices, such as capacitors, biosensors, and electrodes for food monitoring as well as heart and respiration activity analysis, are realized. Biocompatibility tests on fruit-based cellulose reveal no shortcoming for onskin applications. The employment of such natural and plastic-free substrate allows twofold strategies for electronics recycling. As a first approach, device dissolution is achieved at room temperature within 40 days, revealing transient behavior in natural solution and leaving no harmful residuals. Alternatively, the cellulose-based electronics is reintroduced in nature, as possible support for plant seeding and growth or even soil amendment. These results demonstrate the realization of green, low-cost and circular electronics, with possible applications in smart agriculture and the Internet-of-Thing, with no waste creation and zero or even positive impact on the ecosystem.
Flexible strain sensing in wearables and textiles, employs simple resistive sensor elements which suffer from high hysteresis. Textile compatible capacitive strain sensors that have low hysteresis and negligible cross‐axis sensitivity will be ideal for sensing human movement and shape change. In this work, a non‐MEMS based flexible interdigital capacitive strain sensor is proposed. The proffered sensor is built using flexible elastomer material with stitched conductive threads serving as internal and external contacts thereby making the sensor easily customizable. The developed sensor is amenable for fabrication using large scale textile sensor manufacturing techniques. The low sensitivity due to the low dielectric constant of most elastomers is addressed by employing high dielectric constant additives while molding the elastomer sections. The developed sensor is virtually insensitive to cross‐axis strain by design and is capable of withstanding stretching up to 160%. The prototype sensor built and tested has a sensitivity of 0.335pFpF/mmmm${\bf 0}{\bf .335}\frac{{{\bf pF}}}{{{\bf pF}}}{\bf /}\frac{{{\bf mm}}}{{{\bf mm}}}$ and portrays a worst‐case nonlinearity error of <±2.9%. An application, where the developed sensor was stitched on to a glove to sense finger movement is presented and discussed. The proposed fully stitch‐able sensors have the versatility to perform fabric‐based wearable strain sensing for body shape and movement analysis.
Recent developments in telemedicine have caused significant interest in the prolonged monitoring of bioelectric signals. This drives the search for easy-to-use, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional resistive wet electrodes. Here we demonstrate the use of Coconut-Oil and Carbon Black based stretchable electrodes to monitor electrophysiological signals without the need for conductive gels. The developed material is embedded into an elastomer matrix, exhibits a specific resistance ρ of 33.2 ± 12.3 Ω m, high conformability, and a stretchability up to 1500 %. The realised epidermal electrodes were used to record Electrocardiographic (ECG) signals in a 3-lead configuration and compared to commercial wet electrodes. Even after being elongated by 100 % for 100 stretch/release cycles, a reliable recording of the QRS-complex is demonstrated without the need for any contact enhancing or skin irritating substances, proving its potential use in long term ECG monitoring applications.
The unique case of a rare 3-level extensor mechanism failure in a 28-year-old male, involving a tibial tubercle avulsion fracture, a patellar tendon avulsion off the tibial tubercle fragment, and a severely comminuted patella fracture, and the surgical technique required to repair such an injury is presented. Focus is spent on the unique repair of a tendon injury when both proximal and distal bony attachments are damaged. Trifocal knee extensor mechanism is a rare clinical entity with minimal literature available—to date, this injury has only been reported in a retrospective review of combat-related injuries in military personnel. It is important to maintain an understanding of knee extensor mechanism anatomy and perform thorough investigation of high-energy knee injuries to ensure adequate treatment of all injuries. The outcome presented in this case shows that positive results after complex extensor mechanism injuries may be achieved, but limited data exists to elucidate optimum treatment. It is essential for surgeons to have firm grasp of techniques used to treat each segment of the extensor mechanism so that they may be combined when a patient presents with complex, multifocal injury.
We report the case of a 28-year-old male semiprofessional basketball player who presented to an outside hospital with nonhealing stress fractures for which he underwent tibial intramedullary nailing (IMN). Two weeks after surgery, he developed pain proximal and lateral to the knee. As he returned to play, the pain worsened with jumping and lateral movement and improved with rest. He presented to our hospital one year after the operation with the same unresolved pain. Imaging one year after the surgery revealed proximal tibiofibular joint (TFJ) synostosis aligned with the drill path. Literature review showed that rare noncongenital cases of proximal TFJ synostosis cases were most often treated nonoperatively. However, two cases involved the removal of excessively protruding screws and two cases involved bone resection that resolved painful disruption of other joints, such as the ankle. The current patient had proper implant positioning and no other impacted joints, so he was managed without operative intervention. By the final 16-month postoperative follow-up, his symptoms had resolved completely. Although an unusual occurrence with limited data, we recommend nonoperative management for proximal TFJ synostosis caused by tibial nailing if implants are properly positioned and no other joints are affected.
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