Stretchable Electronics Comes to Market

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Apr 17, 2012, 05:12 ET

NEW YORK, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Stretchable Electronics Comes to Market

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0840903/Stretchable-Electronics-Comes-to-Market.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Electronic_Component_and_Semiconductor

Stretchable electronics concerns electrical and electronic circuits and combinations of these that are elastically or inelastically stretchable by more than a few percent while retaining function. For that, they tend to be laminar and usually thin. No definitions of electronics and electrical sectors are fully watertight but it is convenient to consider stretchable electronics as a part of printed electronics, a term taken to include printed and potentially printed (eg thin film) electronics and electrics. This is because the cost, space and weight reduction sought in most cases is best achieved by printing and printing-like technologies.

The applications targeted are primarily in healthcare, including health-related monitoring and management for military purposes and sport. About 40% of the research and commercialisation of stretchable electronics takes place in the USA, with the UK, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Korea and Japan, also making a broad impact. This report examines who is bringing what to market and why and it analyses where the most promising opportunities lie. It scopes the emerging stretchable technologies, many of which promise huge improvements, opening yet more potential markets.

Main areas the report covers

Examination of how stretchable technology fits into the printed electronics and allied scenes, the materials and applications that look most promising and the lessons of success and failure. Profile of 55 organisations that have made significant advances.

Who should buy this report?

Those developing, manufacturing and selling printed electronics and those that seek to do so. Those wishing to do product integration involving printed electronics. Those seeking to improve procedures, capability, safety cost and efficiency particularly in healthcare, sport, military, automotive and consumer electronics and electrics sectors. Investors and potential investors in leading edge electronics and electric companies. Materials scientists, electronics and electrical industry professionals.

Forecasts

At this early stage forecasting is difficult but we give some indications for the next ten years and reveal many key trends.

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS1.1.Forecasts1.2. Definition and purpose1.3. Commercial success1.4. Unbalanced value chain1.5. Four types of stretchable electronics1.6. Categories of printed electronics and the place of stretchable1.7. The three most promising types1.8. Too much emphasis on healthcare?1.9. Popular approach of islands1.10. Potential benefits1.11. Activities by organisation1.12. The market for printed electronics 2012-20321.13. The potential significance of flexible and stretchable electronics2. INTRODUCTION2.1. Ubiquitous electronics2.2. Characteristics of the new electronics2.3. Demographic timebomb2.4. The evolving toolkit2.5. Very different from the traditional value chain2.6. Stretchable electronics2.7. Foldable electronics2.8. Removing pressure points from electronic skin patches and bandages2.9. Printing sensors2.10. Wide repertoire3. HEALTHCARE APPLICATIONS3.1. Active monitoring hardware3.2. Birubin blanket3.3. Controlling brain seizures3.4. Epidermal electronics3.5. Heart monitoring and control3.5.1. Driving defibrillator and pacemaker implants3.5.2. Mapping heart action and providing therapy3.5.3. Bio-integrated electronics for cardiac therapy3.6. Medical micropackaging3.7. Monitoring compression garments3.8. Monitoring babies3.9. Monitoring shoe insoles of those with diabetes3.10. Monitoring vital signs with smart textiles3.11. Non-invasive sensing and analysis of sweat3.12. Renal function monitoring3.13. Remote monitoring and telemetry of vital signs3.13.1. Body Area Networks BAN3.13.2. Skin sensors with telemetry4. OTHER APPLICATIONS4.1. Wearable electronics4.1.1. Energy harvester4.1.2. Stretchable watch4.2. Sport and leisure4.2.1. Electronic eyeball camera4.2.2. Baseball demonstrator of stretchable transistors4.3. Automotive electronics4.4. Haptic actuators for consumer and industrial electronics4.5. Heating circuits4.6. Light emitting textiles5. STRETCHABILITY REQUIREMENTS AND STRUCTURAL APPROACH5.1. Morphology and geometry5.2. Basic choices of construction5.3. Extensibility sought5.4. Choice of electronic sophistication5.5. Rigid islands as an option5.5.1. Nanowire springs - a possible next generation5.6. Stretchable materials5.6.1. Example - transparent skin-like pressure sensor5.7. Possible stretchable technology evolution5.8. Printed and stretchable electronics need new design rules6. KEY ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES -STRETCHABLE AND FOLDABLE6.1. Stretchable conductors6.1.1. Options6.1.2. Stretchable carbon nanotube conductors6.1.3. Stretchable conductors on textiles6.2. Stretchable electronic and electrical components6.3. The first fully stretchable OLED6.4. Energy harvesting6.4.1. Energy harvesting compared with alternatives6.4.2. Power requirements of different devices6.4.3. Harvesting options to meet these requirements6.4.4. Ubiquitous photovoltaics6.4.5. Sensor power requirements6.4.6. Stanford's new stretchable solar cells6.4.7. Trend towards multiple energy harvesting6.4.8. Timeline6.5. Stretchable batteries6.6. Electroactive polymers7. PROFILES OF 55 ORGANISATIONS IN THIS FIELD7.1. ACREO Sweden7.2. AIST Japan7.3. Artificial Muscle USA7.4. Air Force Laboratory USA7.5. Avery Dennison USA7.6. Body Media USA7.7. Cambrios Technologies USA7.8. East Japan Railway Company Japan7.9. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)Switzerland7.10. Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute ETRI Korea7.11. Fraunhofer IZM7.12. French National Centre for Scientific Research CNRS France7.13. Freudenberg Germany7.14. G24 Innovations UK7.15. Georgia Institute of Technology USA7.16. Holst Centre Netherlands7.17. Idaho National Laboratory USA7.18. IMEC Belgium7.19. Imperial College UK7.20. IntAct USA7.21. ITRI Taiwan7.22. Johannes Kepler University Austria7.23. Konarka USA7.24. Korea Electronics Technology Institute Korea7.25. Lockheed Martin Corporation USA7.26. Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA7.27. MC10 USA7.28. Michigan Technological University USA7.29. Micromuscle Sweden7.30. Nokia Research Centre Cambridge UK7.31. Northwestern University USA7.32. Palo Alto Research Center PARC USA7.33. Pelikon UK7.34. Philips Netherlands7.35. Physical Optics Corporation USA7.36. POWERLeap USA7.37. PowerFilm USA7.38. Shimmer Research USA7.39. Simon Fraser University Canada7.40. Smartex Italy7.41. Southampton University Hospital UK7.42. Stanford University USA7.43. Sungkyunkwang University Korea7.44. Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan7.45. Tyndall National Institute Ireland7.46. University of Cambridge UK7.47. University of Gent Belgium7.48. University of Heidelberg Germany7.49. University of Illinois Urbana Champaign USA7.50. University of Michigan USA7.51. University of Pittsburgh USA7.52. University of Princeton USA7.53. Uppsala University Sweden7.54. Urgo France7.55. Verhaert, Belgium8. GLOSSARYAPPENDIX 1: IDTECHEX PUBLICATIONS AND CONSULTANCY