An engineered stretchable interconnect carried digital data while also reporting its own deformation. The architecture uses strain-induced resistance changes in a liquid-metal interconnect to modulate digital signals, so data and deformation can be read without an additional stretchable sensing element.
In the reported continuous run, packets were sent at 115,200 bits per second every 10 milliseconds for 25 seconds. They passed through the receiver-side multi-decoder and were received without loss. The result puts deformation readout inside the same live data link as the digital communication.
Reading two signals through one path
At the receiving end, the multi-decoder had four units: an inverting attenuator, an analog measurement circuit, a comparator circuit and a digital readout circuit. The architecture therefore keeps the deformation signal in the electrical behavior of the communications path, rather than adding a separate stretchable sensing element.
Measured signal amplitude consistently matched circuit simulations across the tested range, up to a reference resistance of 100 kΩ and a wire resistance of 1.5 MΩ. At a supply voltage of 3.3 V, reported strain sensitivity was approximately −6.7 millivolts for each percentage point of strain. The paper reported that the sensitivity was unaffected by communication speed from 4,800 to 115,200 bits per second.
That behavior was also examined in a three-unit serial relay. Two wiring strains varied over 0% to 50% and were detected independently without crosstalk. Five digital-to-analog converter levels per unit were transmitted, and the sequential outputs were read without loss or distortion.
Stretching the hardware along with the signal
The study then tested the physical devices under large elongation and repeated cycling. Its protective-structure analysis used finite-element analysis to compare three configurations: a layered intermediate structure, a substrate-embedded intermediate area and no intermediate area.
In the elongation tests, protected devices retained both communication and measurement to an average 284% elongation across three measured samples. Devices without a protective layer lost communication at an average 173% elongation.
Under a planned 5,000 cycles of 100% elongation, protected devices withstood an average of 4,017 cycles, compared with 888 cycles for devices without the protective layer.
Applications that put the link to work
In a pressure-sensor demonstration, high sensitivity was reported over forces from 2.5 N to 10 N. Output remained stable at 2.5 N or higher despite deformation of the communication line, although sensor hysteresis was present.
A separate self-shape mapping device operated under 100% deformation and transmitted changes in unit tilt and the distance between units. In that demonstration, the interconnect carried information about the device’s changing geometry as well as its data.
Taken together, the demonstrations show the intended system-level combination: a shared stretchable connection can carry digital traffic and deformation information, including independent strain readings in a serial relay and geometric information in a deformed device.
Limits to the current result
The authors identify temperature and aging drift as constraints on resistance-based strain readings. The strain signal also contains noise from time-based random sampling, and the demonstrations were limited to bulk devices and serial connections of up to three nodes.
These boundaries leave the reported result tied to bulk devices and serial connections of up to three nodes, with temperature, aging drift and sampling noise still identified as open constraints.
Paper data and sources
Original title: Simultaneous Digital Communication and Deformation Sensing over a Single Stretchable Interconnect
Authors: Yuji Isano, Hiroki Ota
Journal/Repository: arXiv
Status: Preprint, not yet peer-reviewed
First online: 2026-08-26
DOI: Not available
Original paper · Full text