GLOBAL ELECTRONIC SKIN MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2024-2031)

The global electronic skin market was valued at US$ 7.14 Bn in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 20.94 Bn by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4% from 2024 to 2031.

Global Electronic Skin Market- Regional Insights

• North America has established itself as the dominant region in the global electronic skin market having 40.8%. The presence of major industry players and tech giants such as Resonetics and Abbott has enabled continuous innovation and new product development. These companies have invested heavily in R&D to develop advanced electronic skin technologies for use in various applications such as healthcare, robotics, and prosthetics. Additionally, the growing demand for wearable devices and sensors has boosted the regional market size. Several startups are also entering this space and working on novel applications, which will likely make this region a leader in the coming years.
• Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is considered the fastest growing market for electronic skin globally. Countries like China, Japan, South Korea and India offer a large talent pool of engineers and developers skilled in materials science, microprocessing and soft robotics. This availability of human capital and a focus on collaborative research has helped to nurture startups specializing in electronic skin. Moreover, the presence of a robust electronics manufacturing industry and special economic zones promoting technology adoption is stimulating market growth. Local companies are launching innovative products at competitive prices and seeing increased exports. Regional governments are also supporting R&D projects through funding and incentives. All these factors have enabled Asia Pacific to emerge as the hottest spot for the development and commercialization of new-age electronic skin technologies.

Figure 1. Global Electronic Skin Market Share (%), By Region, 2023

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Analyst’s Views

Global  electronic skin market growth is driven by growing demand for advanced prosthetics and robotics. The ability of e-skin to mimic human skin and gaining tactile senses can drive its usage in robotics applications. North America dominates the market currently due to presence of major players and extensive research activities in the fields of prosthetics and robotics. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market with countries like China and Japan ramping up investments into human-machine interfaces.

However, high production cost of electronic skins can restrain rapid adoption especially in emerging economies. Furthermore, achieving perceptive abilities as comparable to human skin still remains a major technological challenge, thus, hampering the market growth. On the other hand, rising number of amputations due to various medical conditions and injuries is expected to boost demand for advanced prosthetics using e-skin from healthcare sector. Expanding usage of humanoids, exoskeletons and other smart machines in various industries could open up new opportunities for players in coming years.

In summary, increasing awareness about internal and external factors influencing skin health presents a favorable environment for skin supplement producers.

Global Electronic Skin Market- Drivers

• Advances in Materials Engineering: Global electronic skin market is witnessing significant growth due advances made in the domain of materials engineering. Researchers are developing novel nanomaterials that can mimic biological properties like self-healing, stretchability and sensitivity to touch, pressure and temperature. Graphene and carbon nanotubes which have extraordinary electronic and mechanical properties are being engineered to form e-skin like membranes that can detect subtle changes on the surface and generate appropriate electrical signals. Another important development is the ability to 3D print or assemble these nanomaterials layer by layer into thin, flexible and biocompatible structures. This allows for custom designing e-skins conforming to any irregular shape or topography unlike rigid silicon-based sensors. The precision afforded by 3D printing allows embedding of capacitive, piezoresistive or thermochromic sensors in strategic locations to enable multi-modal sensing capabilities in small patches. Advances in materials like liquid crystal elastomers are also helping achieve configurable e-skins that can alter their properties based on ambient conditions.

• Rising Application Potential in Healthcare: The potential application of electronic skin in healthcare sector is a major driver for market growth. Early detection of pressure ulcers, wound healing assessment and prosthetic limb control are some areas that can benefit greatly from conformal, non-invasive monitoring via e-skins. Integration of sensitive, resilient and biocompatible e-skin patches on the human body offers new possibilities for continuous health monitoring without interfering with daily activities. This can manage chronic conditions more effectively through real-time recording of vital signs and timely notifications. E-skins that can mimic the tactile abilities of our skin also have application in developing biofidelic prosthetics. The sense of touch is important for fine motor skills and ensuring safety. E-skin based prosthetic hands and limbs can provide amputees with a closer feeling of normalcy.
• Increasing demand for wearable devices: The demand for wearable devices has grown tremendously in recent years. Wearables have become increasingly multifunctional and incorporated into daily lives in numerous ways for convenience, connectivity and fitness monitoring. This rising popularity of wearables is directly fueling the growth of electronic skin market. Electronic skin, also known as e-skin, is a technology aimed at developing skin-like surfaces that can collect sensory information. It contains embedded microelectronics elements on flexible elastomeric substrates that mimic human skin. E-skin's potential uses in integrated wearables are immense. It allows adding enhanced interactive and sensory capabilities when integrated into smartwatches, augmented reality devices, prosthetics and medical wearables. For example, e-skin patches fitted into smartwatch bands or clothing can monitor heart rate, respiration and other vital signs in real time. This removes the need for separate medical devices and makes health monitoring more convenient.

Global Electronic Skin Market- Opportunities

• Emerging applications in robotics: Emerging applications of electronic skin in robotics can provide significant opportunities for the electronic skin market going forward. Robotic technologies are becoming more advanced with each passing year and the ability to develop human-like synthetic skin could drive further innovations in robotics. Electronic skin has the potential to provide robots with advanced tactile senses and ability to interact physically with unpredictable and delicate environments like assisting elderly patients in hospitals or handling fragile objects in factories. This would allow robots to perform tasks that require a human level of dexterity, care and situational awareness. As robots get deployed in more complex applications that involve interaction with humans and surrounds, having a synthetic skin will provide them capabilities closer to biological skin. It can help robots to detect pressure, temperature, vibrations and textures. This tactile data captured through e-skin can be processed to guide safe physical interaction, instant reaction to accidental contacts and detection of obstructions or slippages while handling things. For robots assisting humans, e-skin can enable responding to urgent gestures or signs of discomfort. E-skin with integrated sensors, memory and communication chips resembles living skin more than external sensors.

• Development of flexible and stretchable electronics: The development of flexible and stretchable electronics holds great promise for the electronic skin market. Electroactive materials that can conform to complex physical structures enable new functionalities and form factors that were previously impossible. This innovation opens the door for advanced prosthetics, realistic humanoid robots, smart biomedical devices, and other applications that require an intuitive man-machine interface. Rather than flat, rigid printed circuit boards, next-generation electronic skins will utilize mechanics inspired by natural skin, flesh, and muscle. Miniaturized sensors, actuators, and other electronic components embedded in elastic substrates could one day mimic the sensitivity and nimbleness of human sensation. For example, prosthetic hands may gain the precision and durability to replace biological limbs. Robotic assistants may interact gently and intuitively through conformal "synthetic skins." Wearable medical devices could noninvasively monitor vital signs with near-invisible skin-worn patches.

• Integration with IoT platforms: Integration with IoT platforms could provide significant opportunities for growth in the electronic skin market. As electronic skin (also known as e-skin or artificial skin) increasingly mimics the functions of human skin, connecting it with IoT networks allows for expanded applications and utility. E-skin patches and sensors can be deployed as part of IoT infrastructure to remotely monitor vital signs, provide health insights, and alert caregivers to potential issues in real-time. This facilitates continuous health tracking without restricting patient mobility or requiring frequent hospital visits. As the global population ages, demand will increase for remote patient monitoring solutions to improve quality of life and help manage the rising costs of healthcare. Combining e-skin with IoT also enables new applications in prosthetics and robotics. Data captured by e-skin sensors could be shared through IoT networks to provide prosthetic users with a sense of touch and feedback. This would allow for more intuitive control and natural interaction with surroundings.

Global Electronic Skin Market- Trends

• Adoption of miniaturized electrochemical sensors: The adoption of miniaturized electrochemical sensors is having a significant impact on the electronic skin market. Electrochemical sensors are becoming highly miniaturized due to advances in micro and nanofabrication techniques. These miniaturized sensors can detect several parameters such as temperature, pressure, chemicals and biological signals. These are very suitable for integration into electronic skins as their miniature size allows for the creation of highly sensitive and distributed sensor networks within the e-skins.
• Development of self-powered electronic skin: The emergence of self-powered electronic skin is having a profound impact on advancing the capabilities and use cases of electronic skin. Traditional electronic skin relies on external power sources which limits its applications, particularly for medical uses where an integrated power source is ideal. Self-powered electronic skin addresses this limitation by harnessing energy from the environment through technologies like triboelectric nanogenerators that can convert biomechanical energy during movement into electricity. This development allows for entirely soft, flexible, and lightweight skin patches that are completely autonomous without needs for batteries or wired connections. By removing the constraints of external power, self-powered electronic skin is enabling a new generation of patient monitoring technologies.

Global Electronic Skin Market- Restraints

• High Development Cost: While the technology looks promising, high costs involved in developing advanced electronic skin materials pose a major challenge. Designing biomimetic materials that can mimic all features of human skin with high precision and performance require extensive research investments. Developing self-healing and ultra-stretchable conductors and substrate materials involve high material and manufacturing costs. Engineering skin-like tactile, temperature and pressure sensing capabilities at a microscale also increases costs substantially. Commercializing a functional and affordable electronic skin product remains difficult with the current technology maturity levels and high costs. Most industry players are still at a prototype development stage with limited capabilities and high per unit costs. Gaining regulatory approvals for medical applications of electronic skin further adds to costs.
• Lack of Standardization hindering Interoperability: Another major challenge slowing market growth is the lack of industry-wide standards for designing and interfacing electronic skin products. Different research groups and companies are developing electronic skin using distinct material combinations, fabrication techniques, circuit designs and sensing modalities. As a result, products lack compatibility at a system level integration. Electronic skins developed by different vendors may not be interchangeable or communicable with each other easily. This poses issues for applications requiring modular upgrades, repairs and integrating with other devices or platforms

Global Electronic Skin Market- Recent Developments

New Product Launches

• In August 2022, Amorepacific, a South Korea- based cosmetics business, created the world's first chip-free and wireless wearable electronic skin. The 'e-skin', developed in conjunction with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), is sweat-proof and can continually track skin changes over time. According to Amorepacific, the ultra-thin patches are the first to enable skin monitoring and data transfer without the use of integrated circuit chips or batteries.
• In May 2022, Graz University of Technology developed the “smart skin” very similar to human skin. It senses pressure, humidity and temperature simultaneously and produces electronic signals. More sensitive robots or more intelligent prostheses are thus conceivable.

Business Development Activities

• In June 2022, Resonetics, a company that focuses on advanced engineering and manufacturing solutions for the health sciences industry, announced the acquisition of Agile MV, a growing leader in product development and turnkey device assembly in Canada. With the acquisition, Resonetics will rename its current Design & Development Services company as AGILE Product Development, with operations in Boston, San Diego, and Montreal.
• In April 2022, Infosys, a worldwide leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, announced a partnership with Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc., a beauty and wellness brand. Nu Skin will use the Infosys Equinox human-centric digital commerce platform to provide engaging and unique experiences for customers and affiliates. The platform's social commerce features are intended to enable Nu Skin to grow its business model enormously.

Figure 2. Global Electronic Skin Market Share (%), By Product Type, 2023

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Top Companies in the Global Electronic Skin Market

• Resonetics (Hudson Medical Innovations)
• Abbott
• Medtronic
• MC10
• Tapecon, Inc.
• GENTAG, Inc.
• General Electric Company
• VivaLNK, Inc. 
• Epicore Biosystems
• Amorepacific Cosmetics (USA), Inc.
•  iRhythm Technologies, Inc. 
• Fuelium

Definition: Electronic skin, also known as e-skin or smart skin, is a technology that facilitates the integration of electronics with human skin. It mimics the functionality of human skin and incorporates various sensors to enable sensing of different environmental stimuli. There are mainly two types of e-skin - bioinspired and biomimetic. Bioinspired e-skin draws from the functions of skin but is not actual skin, while biomimetic e-skin aims to recreate the actual structure and properties of skin.