Recent advances and innovations in the design and fabrication of wearable flexible biosensors and human health monitoring systems based on conjugated polymers

Wearable biosensors have received great interest as patient-friendly diagnostic technologies because of their high flexibility and conformability.The growing research and utilization of novel materials in designing wearable biosensors have accelerated the development of point-of-care sensing platforms and implantable biomedical devices in human health care.Among numerous potential materials,conjugated polymers(CPs)are emerging as ideal choices for constructing high-performance wearable biosensors because of their outstanding conductive and mechanical properties.Recently,CPs have been extensively incorporated into various wearable biosensors to monitor a range of target biomolecules.However,fabricating highly reliable CP-based wearable biosensors for practical applications remains a significant challenge,necessitating novel developmental strategies for enhancing the viability of such biosensors.Accordingly,this review aims to provide consolidated scientific evidence by summarizing and evaluating recent studies focused on designing and fabricating CP-based wearable biosensors,thereby facilitating future research.Emphasizing the superior properties and benefits of CPs,this review aims to clarify their potential applicability within this field.Furthermore,the fundamentals and main components of CP-based wearable biosensors and their sensing mechanisms are discussed in detail.The recent advancements in CP nanostructures and hybridizations for improved sensing performance,along with recent innovations in next-generation wearable biosensors are highlighted.CPbased wearable biosensors have been—and will continue to be—an ideal platform for developing effective and user-friendly diagnostic technologies for human health monitoring.

A mixed-coordination electron trapping-enabled high-precision touch-sensitive screen for wearable devices

Touch-sensitive screens are crucial components of wearable devices.Materials such as reduced graphene oxide(rGO),carbon nanotubes(CNTs),and graphene offer promising solutions for flexible touch-sensitive screens.However,when stacked with flexible substrates to form multilayered capacitive touching sensors,these materials often suffer from substrate delamination in response to deformation;this is due to the materials having different Young’s modulus values.Delamination results in failure to offer accurate touch screen recognition.In this work,we demonstrate an induced charge-based mutual capacitive touching sensor capable of high-precision touch sensing.This is enabled by electron trapping and polarization effects related to mixed-coordinated bonding between copper nanoparticles and vertically grown graphene nanosheets.Here,we used an electron cyclotron resonance system to directly fabricate graphene-metal nanofilms(GMNFs)using carbon and copper,which are firmly adhered to flexible substrates.After being subjected to 3000 bending actions,we observed almost no change in touch sensitivity.The screen interaction system,which has a signal-to-noise ratio of 41.16 dB and resolution of 650 dpi,was tested using a handwritten Chinese character recognition trial and achieved an accuracy of 94.82%.Taken together,these results show the promise of touch-sensitive screens that use directly fabricated GMNFs for wearable devices.

Recent developments in selective laser processes for wearable devices

Recently,the increasing interest in wearable technology for personal healthcare and smart virtual/augmented reality applications has led to the development of facile fabrication methods.Lasers have long been used to develop original solutions to such challenging technological problems due to their remote,sterile,rapid,and site-selective processing of materials.In this review,recent developments in relevant laser processes are summarized under two separate categories.First,transformative approaches,such as for laser-induced graphene,are introduced.In addition to design optimization and the alteration of a native substrate,the latest advances under a transformative approach now enable more complex material compositions and multilayer device configurations through the simultaneous transformation of heterogeneous precursors,or the sequential addition of functional layers coupled with other electronic elements.In addition,the more conventional laser techniques,such as ablation,sintering,and synthesis,can still be used to enhance the functionality of an entire system through the expansion of applicable materials and the adoption of new mechanisms.Later,various wearable device components developed through the corresponding laser processes are discussed,with an emphasis on chemical/physical sensors and energy devices.In addition,special attention is given to applications that use multiple laser sources or processes,which lay the foundation for the all-laser fabrication of wearable devices.

Nanomaterial-assisted wearable glucose biosensors for noninvasive real-time monitoring:Pioneering point-of-care and beyond

This review explores glucose monitoring and management strategies,emphasizing the need for reliable and userfriendly wearable sensors that are the next generation of sensors for continuous glucose detection.In addition,examines key strategies for designing glucose sensors that are multi-functional,reliable,and cost-effective in a variety of contexts.The unique features of effective diabetes management technology are highlighted,with a focus on using nano/biosensor devices that can quickly and accurately detect glucose levels in the blood,improving patient treatment and control of potential diabetes-related infections.The potential of next-generation wearable and touch-sensitive nano biomedical sensor engineering designs for providing full control in assessing implantable,continuous glucose monitoring is also explored.The challenges of standardizing drug or insulin delivery doses,low-cost,real-time detection of increased blood sugar levels in diabetics,and early digital health awareness controls for the adverse effects of injectable medication are identified as unmet needs.Also,the market for biosensors is expected to expand significantly due to the rising need for portable diagnostic equipment and an ever-increasing diabetic population.The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for further research and development of glucose biosensors to meet the stringent requirements for sensitivity and specificity imposed by clinical diagnostics while being cost-effective,stable,and durable.

Wearable multilead ECG sensing systems using on-skin stretchable and breathable dry adhesives

Electrocardiogram(ECG)monitoring is used to diagnose cardiovascular diseases,for which wearable electronics have attracted much attention due to their lightweight,comfort,and long-term use.This study developed a wearablemultilead ECG sensing system with on-skin stretchable and conductive silver(Ag)-coated fiber/silicone(AgCF-S)dry adhesives.Tangential and normal adhesion to pigskin(0.43 and 0.20 N/cm2,respectively)was optimized by the active control of fiber density and mixing ratio,resulting in close contact in the electrode–skin interface.The breathableAgCF-S dry electrodewas nonallergenic after continuous fit for 24 h and can be reused/cleaned(>100 times)without loss of adhesion.The AgCF encapsulated inside silicone elastomers was overlapped to construct a dynamic network under repeated stretching(10%strain)and bending(90°)deformations,enabling small intrinsic impedance(0.3,0.1 Hz)and contact impedance variation(0.7 k)in high-frequency vibration(70 Hz).All hard/soft modules of the multilead ECG system were integrated into lightweight clothing and equipped with wireless transmission for signal visualization.By synchronous acquisition of I–III,aVR,aVL,aVF,and V4 lead data,the multilead ECG sensing system was suitable for various scenarios,such as exercise,rest,and sleep,with extremely high signal-to-noise ratios.

Measuring Pedestrian Stress Response (MPSR) Using Wearable Technologies

Walkability is an essential aspect of urban transportation systems. Properly designed walking paths can enhance transportation safety, encourage pedestrian activity, and improve community quality of life. This, in turn, can help achieve sustainable development goals in urban areas. This pilot study uses wearable technology data to present a new method for measuring pedestrian stress in urban environments and the results were presented as an interactive geographic information system map to support risk-informed decision-making. The approach involves analyzing data from wearable devices using heart rate variability (RMSSD and slope analysis) to identify high-stress locations. This data-driven approach can help urban planners and safety experts identify and address pedestrian stressors, ultimately creating safer, more walkable cities. The study addresses a significant challenge in pedestrian safety by providing insights into factors and locations that trigger stress in pedestrians. During the pilot study, high-stress pedestrian experiences were identified due to issues like pedestrian-scooter interaction on pedestrian paths, pedestrian behavior around high foot traffic areas, and poor visibility at pedestrian crossings due to inadequate lighting.

Hybrid pedestrian positioning system using wearable inertial sensors and ultrasonic ranging

Pedestrian positioning system(PPS)using wearable inertial sensors has wide applications towards various emerging fields such as smart healthcare,emergency rescue,soldier positioning,etc.The performance of traditional PPS is limited by the cumulative error of inertial sensors,complex motion modes of pedestrians,and the low robustness of the multi-sensor collaboration structure.This paper presents a hybrid pedestrian positioning system using the combination of wearable inertial sensors and ultrasonic ranging(H-PPS).A robust two nodes integration structure is developed to adaptively combine the motion data acquired from the single waist-mounted and foot-mounted node,and enhanced by a novel ellipsoid constraint model.In addition,a deep-learning-based walking speed estimator is proposed by considering all the motion features provided by different nodes,which effectively reduces the cumulative error originating from inertial sensors.Finally,a comprehensive data and model dual-driven model is presented to effectively combine the motion data provided by different sensor nodes and walking speed estimator,and multi-level constraints are extracted to further improve the performance of the overall system.Experimental results indicate that the proposed H-PPS significantly improves the performance of the single PPS and outperforms existing algorithms in accuracy index under complex indoor scenarios.

A Novel Method for Cross-Subject Human Activity Recognition with Wearable Sensors

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is an important way for lower limb exoskeleton robots to implement human-computer collaboration with users. Most of the existing methods in this field focus on a simple scenario recognizing activities for specific users, which does not consider the individual differences among users and cannot adapt to new users. In order to improve the generalization ability of HAR model, this paper proposes a novel method that combines the theories in transfer learning and active learning to mitigate the cross-subject issue, so that it can enable lower limb exoskeleton robots being used in more complex scenarios. First, a neural network based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) is designed, which can extract temporal and spatial features from sensor signals collected from different parts of human body. It can recognize human activities with high accuracy after trained by labeled data. Second, in order to improve the cross-subject adaptation ability of the pre-trained model, we design a cross-subject HAR algorithm based on sparse interrogation and label propagation. Through leave-one-subject-out validation on two widely-used public datasets with existing methods, our method achieves average accuracies of 91.77% on DSAD and 80.97% on PAMAP2, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate the potential of implementing cross-subject HAR for lower limb exoskeleton robots.

Hierarchical CoFe@N-Doped Carbon Decorated Wood Carbon as Bifunctional Cathode in Wearable Zn-Air Battery

Rechargeable Zn-air batteries(ZAB)have drawn extensive attention due to their eco-friendliness and safety.However,the lack of high-performance and low-cost oxygen redox reactions(OER and ORR)catalysts has become one of the main stumbling blocks in their development.Herein,we successfully fabricate a CoFe nanobubble encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon nanocage on wood carbon support(CoFe@NC/WC)via pyrolysis of a novel Prussian blue analog(PBA)/spruce precursor.The hierarchical CoFe@NC/WC catalyst exhibits an excellent potential difference of 0.74 V between the OER potential at 10 mA cm^(-2)and half-wave potential of ORR in 0.1 M KOH,comparable to recently reported preeminent electrocatalysts.Further,CoFe@NC/WC shows outstanding electrochemical performance in liquid ZAB,with a peak power density of 138.9 mW cm^(-2)and a specific capacity of 763.5 mAh g^(-1).More importantly,a bacterial cellulose nanofiber reinforced polyacrylic acid(BC-PAA)hydrogel electrolyte shows ultrahigh tensile-breaking stress of 1.58 MPa.In conjunction with the as-prepared CoFe@NC/WC catalyst,BC-PAA-based wearable ZAB displays impressive rechargeability and foldability,and can power portable electronics,such as electronic timer and mobile phone,in bent states.This work provides a new approach toward high-activity and low-cost catalysts for ZAB.

Wearable Healthcare and Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring with IoT Integration

Technical and accessibility issues in hospitals often prevent patients from receiving optimal mental and physical health care,which is essential for independent living,especially as societies age and chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease become more common.Recent advances in the Internet of Things(IoT)-enabled wearable devices offer potential solutions for remote health monitoring and everyday activity recognition,gaining significant attention in personalized healthcare.This paper comprehensively reviews wearable healthcare technology integrated with the IoT for continuous vital sign monitoring.Relevant papers were extracted and analyzed using a systematic numerical review method,covering various aspects such as sports monitoring,disease detection,patient monitoring,and medical diagnosis.The review highlights the transformative impact of IoTenabled wearable devices in healthcare,facilitating real-time monitoring of vital signs,including blood pressure,temperature,oxygen levels,and heart rate.Results from the reviewed papers demonstrate high accuracy and efficiency in predicting health conditions,improving sports performance,enhancing patient care,and diagnosing diseases.The integration of IoT in wearable healthcare devices enables remote patient monitoring,personalized care,and efficient data transmission,ultimately transcending traditional boundaries of healthcare and leading to better patient outcomes.

Innovative integration of lung ultrasound and wearable monitoring for predicting pulmonary complications in colorectal surgery:A prospective study

BACKGROUND Postoperative pulmonary complications(PPCs)are common in patients who undergo colorectal surgery.Studies have focused on how to accurately diagnose and reduce the incidence of PPCs.Lung ultrasound has been proven to be useful in preoperative monitoring and postoperative care after cardiopulmonary surgery.However,lung ultrasound has not been studied in abdominal surgeries and has not been used with wearable devices to evaluate the influence of postoperative ambulation on the incidence of PPCs.AIM To investigate the relationship between lung ultrasound scores,PPCs,and postoperative physical activity levels in patients who underwent colorectal surgery.METHODS In this prospective observational study conducted from November 1,2019 to August 1,2020,patients who underwent colorectal surgery underwent daily bedside ultrasonography from the day before surgery to postoperative day(POD)5.Lung ultrasound scores and PPCs were recorded and analyzed to investigate their relationship.Pedometer bracelets measured the daily movement distance for 5 days post-surgery,and the correlation between postoperative activity levels and lung ultrasound scores was examined.RESULTS Thirteen cases of PPCs was observed in the cohort of 101 patients.The mean(standard deviation)peak lung ultrasound score was 5.32(2.52).Patients with a lung ultrasound score of≥6 constituted the high-risk group.High-risk lung ultrasound scores were associated with an increased incidence of PPCs after colorectal surgery(logistic regression coefficient,1.715;odds ratio,5.556).Postoperative movement distance was negatively associated with the lung ultrasound scores[Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient(r),-0.356,P<0.05].CONCLUSION Lung ultrasound effectively evaluates pulmonary condition post-colorectal surgery.Early ambulation and respiratory exercises in the initial two PODs will reduce PPCs and optimize postoperative care in patients undergoing colorectal surgery.

Personalized Health Monitoring Systems: Integrating Wearable and AI

The integration of wearable technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized healthcare, enabling advanced personal health monitoring systems. This article explores the transformative impact of wearable technologies and AI on healthcare, highlighting the development and theoretical application of the Integrated Personal Health Monitoring System (IPHMS). By integrating data from various wearable devices, such as smartphones, Apple Watches, and Oura Rings, the IPHMS framework aims to revolutionize personal health monitoring through real-time alerts, comprehensive tracking, and personalized insights. Despite its potential, the practical implementation faces challenges, including data privacy, system interoperability, and scalability. The evolution of healthcare technology from traditional methods to AI-enhanced wearables underscores a significant advancement towards personalized care, necessitating further research and innovation to address existing limitations and fully realize the benefits of such integrated health monitoring systems.

Wearable Inflatable Massage Chair:The Future of Comfort

With the continuous advancement of science and technology,our lifestyles are undergoing significant changes,with wearable technology emerging as a captivating trend.In this digital era,there is a growing demand for solutions that cater to people’s needs for health and comfort.The wearable inflatable massage chair represents one such innovation designed to meet these evolving needs.This project is focused on creating a“wearable and portable massage chair”that is both convenient and lightweight.It serves as a massage solution particularly beneficial for the elderly and sedentary individuals.This innovative chair can be used by the elderly during outings or errands,as well as by office workers on business trips,while driving,or commuting via subway.Users can simply lean against the seat or a wall,enjoying moments of relaxation amid the busy and fast-paced modern era.

Functional Materials and Innovative Strategies for Wearable Thermal Management Applications

Thermal management is essential in our body as it affects various bodily functions,ranging from thermal discomfort to serious organ failures,as an example of the worst-case scenario.There have been extensive studies about wearable materials and devices that augment thermoregulatory functionalities in our body,employing diverse materials and systematic approaches to attaining thermal homeostasis.This paper reviews the recent progress of functional materials and devices that contribute to thermoregulatory wearables,particularly emphasizing the strategic methodology to regulate body temperature.There exist several methods to promote personal thermal management in a wearable form.For instance,we can impede heat transfer using a thermally insulating material with extremely low thermal conductivity or directly cool and heat the skin surface.Thus,we classify many studies into two branches,passive and active thermal management modes,which are further subdivided into specific strategies.Apart from discussing the strategies and their mechanisms,we also identify the weaknesses of each strategy and scrutinize its potential direction that studies should follow to make substantial contributions to future thermal regulatory wearable industries.

Wearable sweat biosensors on textiles for health monitoring

With the rapid technological innovation in materials engineering and device integration,a wide variety of textilebased wearable biosensors have emerged as promising platforms for personalized healthcare,exercise monitoring,and pre-diagnostics.This paper reviews the recent progress in sweat biosensors and sensing systems integrated into textiles for wearable body status monitoring.The mechanisms of biosensors that are commonly adopted for biomarkers analysis are first introduced.The classification,fabrication methods,and applications of textile conductors in different configurations and dimensions are then summarized.Afterward,innovative strategies to achieve efficient sweat collection with textile-based sensing patches are presented,followed by an in-depth discussion on nanoengineering and system integration approaches for the enhancement of sensing performance.Finally,the challenges of textile-based sweat sensing devices associated with the device reusability,washability,stability,and fabrication reproducibility are discussed from the perspective of their practical applications in wearable healthcare.

A Thermoregulatory Flexible Phase Change Nonwoven for All‑Season High‑Efficiency Wearable Thermal Management

Phase change materials have a key role for wearable thermal management,but suffer from poor water vapor permeability,low enthalpy value and weak shape stability caused by liquid phase leakage and intrinsic rigidity of solid–liquid phase change materials.Herein,we report for the first time a versatile strategy for designed assembly of high-enthalpy flexible phase change nonwovens(GB-PCN)by wet-spinning hybrid grapheneboron nitride(GB)fiber and subsequent impregnating paraffins(e.g.,eicosane,octadecane).As a result,our GB-PCN exhibited an unprecedented enthalpy value of 206.0 J g^(−1),excellent thermal reliability and anti-leakage capacity,superb thermal cycling ability of 97.6%after 1000 cycles,and ultrahigh water vapor permeability(close to the cotton),outperforming the reported PCM films and fibers to date.Notably,the wearable thermal management systems based on GB-PCN for both clothing and face mask were demonstrated,which can maintain the human body at a comfortable temperature range for a significantly long time.Therefore,our results demonstrate huge potential of GB-PCN for human-wearable passive thermal management in real scenarios.

Rational Design of Cellulosic Triboelectric Materials for Self‑Powered Wearable Electronics

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things and flexible electronic technologies,there is a growing demand for wireless,sustainable,multifunctional,and independently operating self-powered wearable devices.Nevertheless,structural flexibility,long operating time,and wearing comfort have become key requirements for the widespread adoption of wearable electronics.Triboelectric nanogenerators as a distributed energy harvesting technology have great potential for application development in wearable sensing.Compared with rigid electronics,cellulosic self-powered wearable electronics have significant advantages in terms of flexibility,breathability,and functionality.In this paper,the research progress of advanced cellulosic triboelectric materials for self-powered wearable electronics is reviewed.The interfacial characteristics of cellulose are introduced from the top-down,bottom-up,and interfacial characteristics of the composite material preparation process.Meanwhile,the modulation strategies of triboelectric properties of cellulosic triboelectric materials are presented.Furthermore,the design strategies of triboelectric materials such as surface functionalization,interfacial structure design,and vacuum-assisted self-assembly are systematically discussed.In particular,cellulosic self-powered wearable electronics in the fields of human energy harvesting,tactile sensing,health monitoring,human–machine interaction,and intelligent fire warning are outlined in detail.Finally,the current challenges and future development directions of cellulosic triboelectric materials for self-powered wearable electronics are discussed.

Engineering Smart Composite Hydrogels for Wearable Health Monitoring

Growing health awareness triggers the public's concern about health problems. People want a timely and comprehensive picture of their condition without frequent trips to the hospital for costly and cumbersome general check-ups. The wearable technique provides a continuous measurement method for health monitoring by tracking a person's physiological data and analyzing it locally or remotely.During the health monitoring process,different kinds of sensors convert physiological signals into electrical or optical signals that can be recorded and transmitted, consequently playing a crucial role in wearable techniques. Wearable application scenarios usually require sensors to possess excellent flexibility and stretchability. Thus, designing flexible and stretchable sensors with reliable performance is the key to wearable technology. Smart composite hydrogels, which have tunable electrical properties, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and multi-stimulus sensitivity, are one of the best sensitive materials for wearable health monitoring. This review summarizes the common synthetic and performance optimization strategies of smart composite hydrogels and focuses on the current application of smart composite hydrogels in the field of wearable health monitoring.

Functionalized Hydrogel-Based Wearable Gas and Humidity Sensors

Breathing is an inherent human activity;however,the composition of the air we inhale and gas exhale remains unknown to us.To address this,wearable vapor sensors can help people monitor air composition in real time to avoid underlying risks,and for the early detection and treatment of diseases for home healthcare.Hydrogels with three-dimensional polymer networks and large amounts of water molecules are naturally flexible and stretchable.Functionalized hydrogels are intrinsically conductive,self-healing,self-adhesive,biocompatible,and room-temperature sensitive.Compared with traditional rigid vapor sensors,hydrogel-based gas and humidity sensors can directly fit human skin or clothing,and are more suitable for real-time monitoring of personal health and safety.In this review,current studies on hydrogel-based vapor sensors are investigated.The required properties and optimization methods of wearable hydrogel-based sensors are introduced.Subsequently,existing reports on the response mechanisms of hydrogel-based gas and humidity sensors are summarized.Related works on hydrogel-based vapor sensors for their application in personal health and safety monitoring are presented.Moreover,the potential of hydrogels in the field of vapor sensing is elucidated.Finally,the current research status,challenges,and future trends of hydrogel gas/humidity sensing are discussed.

Recent progress in graphene-based wearable piezoresistive sensors:From 1D to 3D device geometries

Electronic skin and flexible wearable devices have attracted tremendous attention in the fields of human-machine interaction,energy storage,and intelligent robots.As a prevailing flexible pressure sensor with high performance,the piezoresistive sensor is believed to be one of the fundamental components of intelligent tactile skin.Furthermore,graphene can be used as a building block for highly flexible and wearable piezoresistive sensors owing to its light weight,high electrical conductivity,and excellent mechanical.This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent advances in graphene-based piezoresistive sensors,which we systematically classify as various configurations including one-dimensional fiber,two-dimensional thin film,and threedimensional foam geometries,followed by examples of practical applications for health monitoring,human motion sensing,multifunctional sensing,and system integration.We also present the sensing mechanisms and evaluation parameters of piezoresistive sensors.This review delivers broad insights on existing graphene-based piezoresistive sensors and challenges for the future generation of high-performance,multifunctional sensors in various applications.