By Peter Suciu
TechNewsWorld
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TechNewsWorld
Incorporating something akin to the sense of touch in skin-like prosthetics is just one of the amazing promises of a new polymer developed at Stanford. There's no end to the potential applications of the self-healing material, and it's not likely to be stalled in the laboratory for decades of development, either. "Self-healing polymers are part of the near future," said futurist James Canton.Researchers at Stanford University have created a new flexible skin-like material that has the ability to heal itself, which could pave the way for a new generation of prosthetics. Further development could also lead to regeneration of organs and limitless other possibilities.
Led by Zhenan Bao, Ph.D., a Stanford chemical engineer, the research team created a self-healing polymer that isn't as brittle as other silicon versions of synthetic skin. More importantly, it has the potential to be more like real skin by offering enhanced sensitivity to touch.
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