Skin surrogates for product testing and training are essential to the manufacturing process for various goods. Historically, both pigskin and cadavers have been used as approximations; however, porcine skin does not have the same elasticity as human skin and can cause questions of ethics to arise. Meanwhile, bio-safety, scarcity, and FDA regulations complicate the usage of cadavers. Additionally, neither option offers a standardized material since each sample's elasticity varies from one body location to another. Finally, while flexible conductive materials exist, none have the mechanical properties of human skin.
Researchers at The University of Alabama have developed a synthetic skin that mimics the flexibility and biomechanics of human skin and is highly conductive in various stages of strain. This novel material is cost-effective and easy to manufacture. Due to its siloxane network and conductive fibers, this invention would be a boon to industries such as biomedical training, ballistics testing, automotive safety, prosthetics manufacturing, sexual wellness, and wearable tech.