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Silva-Pinto Collins, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Silva-Pinto Collins, A..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Bioelectronic wearable sensors produced by computerized embroidery using a dual thread approach

Electronic textiles offer a promising route to wearable systems capable of continuous biophysical and biochemical monitoring. Their broader adoption remains limited by conductive threads that rarely support computerized embroidery (CEmb), reliable electronic integration, and reduced electrochemical capabilities due to coatings that degrade under bending, friction, or aqueous exposure. In this work, we use a dual-thread strategy that integrates silver-plated polyamide threads (AgPT) for high-conductivity pathways with PECOTEX, a chemically resilient PEDOT:PSS-coated cotton thread optimized for biochemical sensing. This approach preserves compatibility with CEmb, enhances electrochemical performance, and reduces cost by reserving AgPT for critical traces. We demonstrate a CEmb-compatible fabrication process for two wearable devices: a fully embroidered SmartBra for electrocardiography and a two-electrode ion sensor for potassium and sodium detection. We validate the design of our wearable dual-thread biosensors through laboratory characterization experiments and evaluate electrochemical sensing performance using a breast milk substitute, enabling realistic testing within womens health and infant-nutrition contexts. By focusing on scalable fabrication and meaningful applications, this work advances embroidered electronic textile systems toward practical, personalized healthcare monitoring.

bioengineering↗

Time-Resolved Chemical Phenotyping of Whole Plant Roots with Printed Electrochemical Sensors and Machine Learning

Plants are non-equilibrium systems consisting of time-dependent biological processes. Phenotyping of chemical responses, however, is typically performed using plant tissues, which behave differently to whole plants, in one-off measurements. Single point measurements cannot capture the information rich time-resolved changes in chemical signals in plants associated with nutrient uptake, immunity or growth. In this work, we report a high-throughput, modular, real-time chemical phenotyping platform for continuous monitoring of chemical signals in the often-neglected root environment of whole plants: TETRIS (Time-resolved Electrochemical Technology for plant Root In-situ chemical Sensing). TETRIS consists of screen-printed electrochemical sensors for monitoring concentrations of salt, pH and H2O2 in the root environment of whole plants. TETRIS can detect time-sensitive chemical signals and be operated in parallel through multiplexing to elucidate the overall chemical behavior of living plants. Using TETRIS, we determined the rates of uptake of a range of ions (including nutrients and heavy metals) in Brassica oleracea acephala. We also modulated ion uptake using the ion channel blocker LaCl3, which we could monitor using TETRIS. We developed a machine learning model to predict the rates of uptake of salts, both harmful and beneficial, demonstrating that TETRIS can be used for rapid mapping of ion uptake for new plant varieties. TETRIS has the potential to overcome the urgent "bottleneck" in high-throughput screening in producing high yielding plant varieties with improved resistance against stress.

bioengineering↗