The basic principle that enables electronics to flex starts with the observation that if you make something thin, you can start to make it flexible. "If you compare a two-by-four with a tissue paper, they are the same fundamental material," Icke said. Silicon is the same way. "If you have a wafer in a semiconductor fab, it is very thick so it doesn't break, but it is rigid and brittle." But, if made thin enough, the material becomes somewhat flexible.

The technology that MC10 is working on is composed of thin nanoribbons of silicon that are arranged accordion-like in waves. The resulting material can stretch and conform to the contours of the human body -- like Spandex or Nylon.

The flexible electronics could be used for a range of applications from optimizing the performance of, say, an athlete or soldier, to monitoring safety and preventing injury, Icke said.

MC10 is now working on using the technology in low-cost paper diagnostics in a partnership with the Gates Foundation and Diagnostics for All. The diagnostic components can be printed with a standard ink-jet printer and include integrated electronics.

Other applications of the technology are what Icke described as "epidermal electronics" and "interventional circuits." Examples of the latter could include smart stents and multifunctional optoelectronic catheters that can measure atrial fibrillation, Icke said.

The technology's application for skin-based electronics got a good deal of attention when it was picked up by the press last year. These electronics, which are about five microns thick, can be applied like an artificial tattoo. "The modulus is matched to the skin, so when you squeeze it, it moves right along with the skin," Icke said.

This post also appears on medGadget, an Atlantic partner site.

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