Smart Diapers

Being a new father, here's another killer application for disposable baby diapers. The first diaper company to integrate this will have a huge advantage over the rest.

Theory: Parents often have to speculate if the baby's diaper is wet/full of not. To check, especially in winter, they have to unwrap the baby, sometimes from 2 or 3 layers and check the diaper.
Wouldn't it be great if the diaper actually to you, if its full or not?

Application: The idea is to have a small very low-cost microchip embedded within the disposable diaper. This would use the same technology as the microchips used to tag pets.

It appears that this isn't so hard to do. RFID tags are all the rage these days and devising a moisture/humidity detection tag for the cost of about 1 cent should not be difficult. Here's why.

1. Unlike pet tags, these tags are disposable. They should only work once. Even a destructive detection process is acceptible. This is a major advantage in terms of cost.
2. The tags can be mass produced as identical units. There is no need for a unique identification number per chip. In fact, the chip does not need any memory at all.
   
3. The detection is a binary operation. There is no need to provide any measure of partial humidity. In fact, if properly placed in the diaper, it would be just sensing complete soaking. This means that sensitivity thresholds and calibration would be quite tolerant and robust. Such a rather simple sensor would be cheaper to produce than a more complex one such as those that might be used for food packaging.
   
4. Sensing moisture or humidity is very simple. The resistance between 2 wires changes when the surounding medium changes humidity. Such an electronic detection circuit is extremely simple and can easily be integrated into a passive RFID chip.
5. As most passive RFID tags, our pee-chip does not need a power source. It will use an external power source for power when needed.
   
6. The response distance is very small making production cheaper.

Of course, the parents would also need a scanner unit, but this is just a one time purchase. Assuming the baby uses diapers for at least 1 year, and with more siblings joining the family, it might very well be worth the extra expense.

If diaper makers can decide on a standard RF protocol, you could use one scanner with all diaper brands. Alternatively, once you buy a scanner for one brand you might be more likely to keep buying that brand again. It makes good business sense.