E-paper displays have a wide range of application in medical products and devices. Their benefits range from being more cost-effective – which is critical for mass production of millions of units annually –, to being more sustainable, having lower energy requirements for battery operated devices and, in some cases, being safer for the end user.  

Ynvisible produces e-paper displays that can be combined with smart sensors or integrated into existing devices, to be used, for example, in:

Point-of-care tests (at home tests)

There are over 20 million pregnancy tests sold annually in the United States alone, with this number increasing significantly at a global level.  

Digital tests include many electronic parts, such as LCD displays, a processor and a battery to power the display. The conversation about this type of test and many others, like Covid tests, revolves mainly around their cost and environmental impact, given that they are single use.

Replacing traditional LCD displays with e-paper displays reduces battery usage, minimizes the complexity of the electronic parts required, improves form factor and usability, and is overall a significantly more sustainable solution, significantly contributing to less e-waste.  

Smart bandages

People with acute or chronic wounds can feel a high level of discomfort when their bandages have to be checked. Nurses and doctors might need to do this to monitor the patient’s evolution, and to know when it’s time to change a bandage.  

A smart bandage could potentially be developed to improve patient care, by including a series of sensors to track, for example, wound temperature and moisture. The result could be displayed on an e-paper display that can be easily integrated into the bandage, thanks to its high flexibility and thinness. This way, wound healing status could be monitored more easily, and bandages changed only when required, reducing patients’ stress and suffering, improving the therapy and at the same time saving treatment costs.

Temperature-sensitive products, such as blood bags

The logistics and transportation networks of medical-related products, such as drugs or blood bags, are highly sensitive to environmental factors, the most important one being temperature. Some of these products can easily be damaged if they are exposed to too high or too low temperatures and, therefore, they need to be kept within well identified temperature thresholds during their entire storage and transportation journey, up to the point of use.

Combining temperature sensors with e-paper displays into flexible, thin and durable smart labels applied to these products, can indicate whether the product is still optimal for use or if temperature thresholds have been breached. In these smart labels, the display functions as a direct, on-product, visual indication, that can easily, effortlessly and intuitively inform medical staff about the status of the product.

Hospital digital information signs

‍There is a plenitude of signage in hospital environments, from simple navigation signs to bedside patient files, room monitors and visitor information displays. All of them need to be able to be updated in real time and function continuously, without being prone to failures due to, for example, low battery.  

E-paper displays are a good solution for these applications, as they allow for updatable and continuous showcase of information, and have an ultra-low power consumption, which simplifies their installation. In addition, because e-paper displays are reflective, they allow for perfect visibility in the strong lighting usually present in hospital environments.

Medical equipment and consumables

To improve patient safety and streamline hospital procedures from tool management to procedure preparation, medical equipment and consumables require trustworthy end-of-life indication. Medical devices and consumables require extensive sterilisation and cleaning , which means any display showcasing data must withstand high temperatures. E-paper visual indicators can be developed to endure high thermal stress protocols, multiple cleaning and sterilization combined cycles and maintain the displayed image for a long time without requiring any power.  

Health trackers and other types of wearable IoT devices

The Healthcare IoT market is growing, being expected to reach a volume of US$167.70bn by 2028. These devices, including remote or portable health monitoring solutions, wearables, sensors, smart implants, robots or even hospital-resource monitoring solutions, made their way into the industry for a variety of reasons. For example, they facilitate telemedicine and patient care, streamline processes for doctors and medical staff, improve procedures’ efficiency, and more.

Displays are a critical part of some of these devices, to showcase vital information to the user (like heart rate, blood pressure or glucose levels). Using e-paper for this purpose will lead to significantly less power consumption, which means the products need to be recharged less often and/or will last longer.  

In addition, because e-paper displays are thin, flexible and can have any shape or size, they can be easily integrated in any device that requires a display to convey visual information.

Conclusion

E-paper displays for medical applications have the potential to streamline medical procedures, boost efficiency in the supply chain and improve patient’s care, wellbeing and safety. Ynvisible printed e-paper is a more appropriate solution compared to traditional LED or LCD displays or, in some cases, even physical paper products, because it is much more energy efficient, its manufacturing is additive with lower carbon footprint, and it is less expensive for bespoken designs. To explore how our e-paper display technology can be integrated in your devices or combined with smart sensors to create innovative new products, please contact us.  

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