Moisture-Permeable Polyurethane Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Addresses Needs of Wearable Devices
It is difficult to simultaneously achieve both moderate adhesion to the skin and strong adhesion to a wearable device, but a new polyurethane pressure-sensitive adhesive is providing a solution.
Wearable devices are used in medicine to continuously monitor signals such as electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms.1 They can also be used to monitor physical conditions during exercise. To improve the accuracy of the analysis, many studies have been conducted by directly attaching wearable devices to the skin using a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) sheet.
When a PSA sheet is continuously applied for an extended time, however, the user’s skin becomes macerated due to the moisture generated from their skin. This increases the amount of peeled stratum corneum (outer layer of the skin). PSAs used in this application must meet several requirements, including: patient/user safety, appropriate adhesiveness to the skin, reduction of the humidity that results from sweat after application, and strong adhesion to the wearable device.