The amazing capabilities that integrated circuitry now provide allows for complex applications that further require circuit design to be modified. Flexible circuits are now used in many systems and actually have the capability to bend and fold without affecting the performance of the electronics on their surface.

Printed onto plastic substrates or polyester, they can conform to a desired shape in a device or flex during the product’s use. An example would be folding cell phones, in which the electrical connections must be maintained between the folding parts that are moved regularly during normal use. They can also be used in small electronics such as cameras. In this case the circuits will remain in a static position but allow for connections in various axes.

These types of circuits are also commonly used in keyboards, as well as with organic LEDs to include backlights in flexible displays. The technology expands the possibilities of miniature and flexible circuitry. It brings to the imagination electronics that you can wear, and also adds a sense of realism to fictitious elements such as Penny’s computerized guide book in the Inspector Gadget cartoons. As manuals are available electronically online, a product manual on just a few sheets of flex circuit paper would provide all the information you would need to understand the workings of a device.

The fictional and theoretical blend in well with the idea of flexible circuits. Out of this world applications do exist, however, because they are used in satellites, especially for the solar panels that roll up for launch and deploy when they reach orbit. This allows the power collection and distribution systems to remain intact despite the entire panels having been folded and extended.

The concept has also expanded technologies in the medical field, with such circuits used in small implantable devices such as pacemakers, medical monitoring devices, diagnostic equipment, and surgical tools. Since flex circuits are highly compatible with devices that are hinged or have telescopic functions, they are now widely used and explored in medical applications.