Sensors, Haptics & Displays

Though activities in 3D bioprinting have been growing in leaps and bounds since 2015, the activity we have seen in 2018 has been truly remarkable for this fledgling field. Finally, governments, academic institutions and companies alike are beginning to understand the value that 3D bioprinting can bring and are working hard together to bring disruptive change through building tissues from scratch.

Advancements in material science and material processing will always play a central role in any technological progression. IDTechEx has been providing leading market analysis on a broad range of advanced materials and their technology analysts have given their pick of the key news stories from 2018.

David Pearce and Steve Schaefer discuss ViCardio, the new beat-to-beat, non-invasive, wearable blood pressure monitor with Principal Analyst James Hayward at the IDTechEx Show in Santa Clara, CA.

Though there are many medical devices that can be used in the care of advanced wounds, there is significant clinical research to support that biological therapies provide superior healing ability.

At the IDTechEx Show! Callaghan Innovation showcased MicroMaker, a new type of 3D printing for microstructures. MicroMaker enables fast, easy and affordable fabrication of miniaturized structures for innumerable applications such as printed electronics, wearables, sensors and point of care devices.

Drone business landscape has been configured in recent years. The hardware price wars have consolidated the hardware landscape with the winner essentially forcing many out and leaving the rest at best vying for the position of being an alternative supplier.

A recent, bestselling IDTechEx report found that the market for electronic skin patches will be worth $4.8bn in 2018. The report covers 26 different application areas, >85 companies and 95 different product case studies, with inclusion of historic market data by sector and subsequent market forecasts predicting that revenue from electronic skin patches will reach $10bn by 2023 and $15bn by 2028. This is the most comprehensive study on electronic skin patches, studying this emerging wearable technology product type that so many companies are investing heavily to develop and commercialize.

California and Europe are pumping millions into development of electricity-generating roads using piezoelectrics. Piezos will also be useful in self-powered Internet of Things nodes because no one will change or even charge millions of batteries for those nodes let alone the envisaged billions. Without self-powered nodes, the IoT will be nothing more than a footnote in history. The new IDTechEx Research report, "Piezoelectric Harvesting and Sensing 2019-2039" is the first to pull it all together. Milliwatts or megawatts: where will piezoelectric success lie?

This article covers that the growth in healthcare expense reflects the expansion of healthcare coverage in developing markets, the increasing care needs of elderly populations, advances in treatments and health technologies and rising labour costs in the healthcare sector.

IDTechEx is hosting a free webinar on Thursday 13 December titled Printed, Organic and Flexible Electronics: Status, Forecast and Opportunities.