Fully-Printed, Advanced Medical Electronic Patches

This project aims to use direct ink write (DIW) additive manufacturing to directly print highly functional, flexible medical electronic patches on materials that are not compatible with normal circuit manufacturing techniques. Although several groups have shown the promise of using DIW to work with these target materials, they have been limited to simple demos and non-functional patterns.

Recently-developed silver nanoflake and tin-bismuth inks could hold the key to unlocking new device functionality, but their fluid behavior and soldering process is significantly different from normal inks, necessitating new studies in additive manufacturing to turn their promise into reality.

2026 Student Outcomes

Students will engage in additive manufacturing process optimization, sample printing, statistical analysis, and mechanical testing to create a new fabrication process. They will learn about additive manufacturing, mechanical testing, fluid-solid wetting, fluid rheology, CAD drafting in KiCad, and soldering while contributing to experiment design, documentation, and weekly research discussions.

This work is supported by a 2026Seubert Engineering Entrepreneurial Design award.