Soft and Flexible Device Technologies for Tomorrow’s Healthcare
Speaker: Faezeh Arab Hassani
School of Electrical, Electronic, and Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol
Abstract: Assistive device technologies or transplantation are two conventional methods to recover a dysfunctional or failing organ. Transplantation has long been limited due to the imbalance between available organs and the number of patients waiting. Using assistive devices has often served as a critical yet temporary solution before receiving the donor organ. For example, a ventricular assist device can provide the necessary support for the heart while the patient awaits a donor’s heart. Recent advances in soft and flexible device technology have pushed healthcare toward life-changing assistive device solutions, solutions that have less harmful interactions with soft tissues and organs. These devices consist of various sensors and actuators working hand in hand to mimic the natural organ performance. This talk will go through developed soft solutions for assisting a damaged organ and dive into the designs, materials, and development of these devices. Building an assistive device requires considerable effort in designing a suitable data transfer and communication system that can be powered over a long period. Highlighting the practical application of these advancements, this talk will showcase a case study on a bladder-assist device, tracing its journey from initial concept to successful animal testing.
Bio: Faezeh Arab Hassani is a Senior Lecturer in Microelectronics at the University of Bristol. She received her PhD in Electronics from the University of Southampton and held a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, followed by research positions at the National University of Singapore and the University of Sheffield. She later received a JSPS Invitational Fellowship at the University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on thin-film and flexible electronics for healthcare applications. She is a Senior Member of IEEE, Chair of the IEEE UK and Ireland Nanotechnology Council Chapter, Counsellor of the IEEE Student Branch of the University of Bristol, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
