BOSTON, Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- One influence of
COVID-19 is its change to our lifestyle and perception on
healthcare. Social distancing, limited medical resources and more
attention to healthcare lead to a move from centralized hospital to
remote patient monitoring. In addition, the availability of newly
designed devices have expanded human body monitoring and treatment
beyond just medical usage, but also on healthcare, fitness and
cosmetics. Those portable/wearable devices require new material
development, specialized integrated sensors, and of course, power
source innovations, which will be based on special form
factors.
Conventional batteries like AA/AAA cylindrical batteries and
coin cells are mature, cheap and widely used in many gadgets and
devices. However, their bulky shape and large thickness limit their
applications in specially designed devices, such as devices that
needs to fit the nature curvature of human body. With other device
components being designed flexible or made small enough to reduce
the discomfort, battery is always a bottleneck to provide both good
performance and good user experience.
With this background, the emergence of thin-film, flexible and
printed battery can play a significant role. "Thin", "flexible",
and "printed" batteries are describing battery features like
thickness, mechanical property, and manufacturing method. Sometimes
the concepts are overlapping with each other. For instance, when a
battery becomes very thin, it can be flexed somehow. A printed
battery can be made both thin and flexible.
Skin patch thermometers have been available for a while, such as
the TempTraq launched by Blue Spark Technologies, a company
initially developed printed disposable carbon zinc batteries. The
patch itself was specially designed to measure the temperature of
infants/baby continuously for days without interruption and the
temperature readings can be delivered to a smartphone app.
Under the outbreak of COVID-19, such kinds of skin patch can be
used for normal temperature monitoring. Enfucell Flexible
Electronics has launched a skin-patch thermometer based on printed
battery to be used in hospitals in Wuhan. Skin patches usually require ultra-thin
design and in this tag, the whole device varies from 0.4 mm to 1mm
thick, with a bending curvature as low as 25 mm. Although
asymptomatic cases show no temperature rise, these kind of tags can
still provide useful information to assist the diagnosis.
Temperature skin patches are just one example. Wearable patches
can integrate different kinds of sensors, also for drug delivery,
cosmetic delivery, chemical measuring, vital sign measuring, etc.
The flexible use cases and remote usage scenario indicate a huge
potential for new kinds of batteries.
According to IDTechEx Research's report "Flexible, Printed and
Thin Film Batteries 2020-2030", the market for thin, flexible and
printed batteries will grow to $500
million in 2030. 23% of the market share in 2025 accounts
for the batteries used in medical/healthcare/fitness/cosmetic
products in the form of electronic skin patches.
Since 2014, IDTechEx has been tracking the progress of
thin-film, flexible and printed batteries, as well as its
opportunities and challenges. From the successes and failures over
the last ten years, IDTechEx has provided an impartial outlook of
the technologies, players and markets. To better understand the
technologies, markets, players, opportunities, challenges and
commercialization about thin, flexible and printed batteries,
please refer to IDTechEx Research's report "Flexible, Printed and
Thin Film Batteries 2020-2030".
For more information on this report, please visit
www.IDTechEx.com/flex or for the full portfolio of Energy Storage
research available from IDTechEx please visit
www.IDTechEx.com/research/ES.
IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its
Research, Consultancy and Event products, helping you profit from
emerging technologies. For more information on IDTechEx Research
and Consultancy, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit
www.IDTechEx.com.
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Natalie Moreton
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press@IDTechEx.com
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