Flexible wearable devices for intelligent health monitoring

Abstract

Profited from the rapid development of flexible skin-like electronic materials and artificial intelligent technology, remarkable achievements have been witnessed in wearable health monitoring devices in recent years. The wearable intelligent systems featured with tailored structures and compositions as well as enriched functions enable human beings to access to next-generation closed-loop platform for early disease prevention and diagnosis. In this context, this mini-review focuses on the recent progress and applications of flexible wearable intelligent health monitoring devices. Specifically, the basic sensing mechanisms and corresponding property requirements for wearable healthcare devices are examined firstly. Secondly, the versatile applications of advanced wearable devices for detecting temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and glucose are scrutinized exclusively. Finally, a brief summary is presented accompanying with future outlook in terms of material preparation, mechanism development and integration design of monitoring systems. This manuscript is expected to provide critical guidelines to those working in skin-like electronics, flexible sensors, wearable intelligent devices, health monitoring and other related disciplines, especially for the beginners.

Recent progress on PEDOT‐based wearable bioelectronics

“…According to the temperature changes of biological tissues, it can diagnose the potential disease hidden dangers of organisms, and be used for wound healing and health monitoring. 52,53 Therefore, F I G U R E 4 (A) Schematic for the preparation of the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS)/PEDOT nanowires (NWs)/cellulose nanofibers (CNF)-fabric (PPCF). 43 (B) Morphological structure and sensing mechanism of the piezoresistive pressure sensor.…”

“…As one of the basic means of monitoring biological temperature changes, temperature sensors use the principle of sensor resistance changes with temperature to detect the local temperature changes of biological tissues accurately and sensitively to the greatest extent within the minimum sensing range. According to the temperature changes of biological tissues, it can diagnose the potential disease hidden dangers of organisms, and be used for wound healing and health monitoring 52,53 . Therefore, flexible and wearable temperature sensors have become a research hotspot in the field of bioelectronics.…”

Smart Implant with Bacteria Monitoring and Killing Ability for Orthopedic Applications

“…In recent years, the development of biosensors has provided new ideas for solving the above problems. Signal amplification biosensors based on electrochemistry, fluorescence, surface-enhanced raman scattering (SERS), molecular fingerprint platform, and mass spectrometry (MS) have been widely used in the detection of bacteria, temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose. − The electrochemical sensor based on alternating current (AC) impedance technology can directly use the implant’s surface as the electrode to monitor the surrounding environment of the implant, which has become a research hotspot in the construction of intelligent orthopedic implants. These techniques are based on detecting impedance changes in the system by applying a small electrical stimulation perturbation signal to the monitored bacteria.…”

Biomaterial-Based Biomimetic Visual Sensors: Inkjet Patterning of Bacteriorhodopsin

“…As a result, there is a problem of power consumption, and a paradigm shift is necessary (Table ). In light of these societal demands, extensive research is underway in the field of biomimetics and bioinspired technology, specifically focusing on the development of devices like visual displays and wearable sensors that draw inspiration from living organisms. − …”