Innovative Sensor Developed by Our Faculty Member Attracted Attention

The nano-tattoo sensor that does not require a battery and a cable, developed by Asst. Prof. Dr. Onur Ergen from ITU Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering and Lect. Kristen D. Belcastro from Yeditepe University, opens the door to many innovative applications.

In its 250th year, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) is advancing towards its vision of transforming the future with groundbreaking and innovative technologies. The nano-tattoo sensor developed by our ITU Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering faculty member Dr. Onur Ergen together with Lect. Kristen D. Belcastro from Yeditepe University has the potential for many innovative applications as it is wireless and battery-free.

The nano-tattoo sensors developed under the leadership of our faculty member Dr. Onur Ergen enable passive wireless data transfer without the need for external power sources such as batteries by using the principle of backscattering.

The sensor that digitizes the human body

With their piezoelectric structure, nano-tattoo sensors convert mechanical energy to electric energy by using body movements and communicate using artificial intelligence algorithms with nearby devices. Dr. Ergen stated that the sensors they developed provide an important advantage as they transfer data in a broad band range instead of the limited frequencies allowed by RFID tag technology used for similar purposes.

Stating that many groundbreaking applications such as wireless EEG can be made possible in the healthcare field with the use of backscattering based nano-tattoo sensors (BNTS), Dr. Ergen underlined that the application area is not limited to the human body: “A chair on which nano-tattoo ink is applied can instantly provide instantaneous information about the sitting position of the person on it.”

Click to access the article involving the study.