Earlier this week, Henkel and Linxens announced a collaboration to drive the integration of advanced technologies for medical wearables based on printed electronics. The companies developed a proof of concept to integrate heating elements into medical wearable devices to enhance comfort for patients.
This innovative concept was launched at the MEDICA trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the Linxens booth.
Linxens is a global leader in the electronics industry, providing innovative, customized component-based solutions to meet the most demanding technical specifications for connectivity, traceability, and authentication.
Henkel is an industry-leading supplier of printed electronics materials and services. The broad Loctite portfolio of functional inks includes conductive inks and paints, as well as resistive and dielectric inks.
Henkel provided its expertise in Polymer Conductive Technology (PCT), ensuring optimal performance of the heating elements while maintaining the flexibility and adhesion required for skin-contact medical patches. The company´s silver conductive inks and carbon resistive ink for micro-heating are essential to the patch’s heating capabilities.
These materials, combined with four decades of formulation expertise, enable the company´s ecosystem partners to develop printed electronics applications tailored to the specific properties demanded by industrial customers – with a growing focus on the medical and healthcare industry.
Within the collaboration, Linxens leveraged its Roll-to-Roll (R2R) screen printing technology for the development of highly complex and precise electronic designs.
Linxens contributed to the creation of the substrate with silver tracks, ensuring efficient conductivity within the patch. This technology allows the production of flexible circuits integrated into skin patches, which are thin, comfortable, and optimized for medical applications. As a result, the heating skin patch can be used in various healthcare and wellness contexts, such as for pain relief or temperature-controlled drug delivery.
“Through our collaboration with Henkel, we have developed an innovative proof of concept that incorporates heating elements into medical wearable devices, aimed at greatly enhancing patient comfort,” shared Minh Lê, Vice President at Linxens Healthcare. “This solution represents a significant step forward in wearable technology, enabling designing of devices that positively impact patients’ quality of life by enhancing comfort during use. We’re excited to demonstrate this advancement at MEDICA to show its real-world benefits for the healthcare sector and look forward to collaborating with Henkel on future solutions.”
“At Henkel, we strongly believe in the value of close collaborations to further unlock the enormous potential of printed electronics across industries,” explained Pia Schmiedel, Business Development Manager for Printed Electronics at Henkel. “Our collaboration with Linxens enables innovative approaches for the printed electronics technology in healthcare that help to significantly enhance the comfort for patients. We are convinced that our demonstrations at this years´ MEDICA trade show will be a great opportunity to accelerate the adoption in the market.”
