eWEAR-X set to drive next generation of wearable technology
From smartwatches that detect heart disease to brain implants that restore cognitive function after a head injury, wearable technology’s potential to monitor and improve health is enormous and still largely untapped.
With a recent gift from the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative (eWEAR-X) is supercharging its efforts to transform researchers’ inspiration into reality by augmenting the Ideation and Prototyping Lab and providing seed funding for members of the university community.
To push the boundaries of what’s possible, the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative, now known as eWEAR-X, is leading an effort to strengthen collaboration between researchers in engineering and medicine as well as to provide new prototyping tools. The goal is to advance wearable technology’s clinical and health applications.
The donation from the Chen Institute is providing multi-year funding, including support for prototyping development projects, the purchase of new equipment, and the hiring of staff for the Ideation and Prototyping Lab (IPL). The newly named Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen IPL is in partnership with the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) and located in the Paul G. Allen Center. One tool eWEAR-X is acquiring for the lab is a scanner-guided laser tool that enables versatile cutting and engraving of small features in various materials. The tool can be used to fashion small electronic devices, enhancing researchers’ ability to make diminutive, elastic medical electronics that can be implanted or worn.