Hybrid 3D Printing for Wearable Electronics

Fabrics like Spandex can mimic the stretchability of skin, but when it comes to wearable electronics, that flexibility gets tricky. Devices that are worn on the skin need to be able to move and stretch with the skin, but that's difficult to do and still integrate the kinds of functional electronics required for such devices. Generally, electrical components are rigid and hard, and the difference in flexibility between them and more elastic substrates causes stress that makes many wearable electronics fail. But now a team of researchers has developed a new 3D printing technique for soft electronics, called hybrid 3D printing. The technique combines soft, electrically conductive inks and matrix materials with rigid electronic components into one stretchable device. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/186624/hybrid-3d-printing-wearables/

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