Wearable ultrasound bioelectronics for healthcare monitoring

The concept of wearable ultrasound bioelectronics for noninvasive, real-time, continuous, and comfortable monitoring of vital physiological signals.

Customized and personalized healthcare, being self-administered by patients, is highly sought after in light of the increasing burdens of chronic illnesses and aging populations. Outside clinics that empower individuals to have a more prominent role in managing their health are becoming a trend due to many benefits. For example, they can reduce hospital visits and infection risk during a pandemic like COVID-19. Flexible bioelectronics, which can be mounted onto skin, attached to clothing, and even implanted into bodies (e.g., epidermal electronics, wearable electronics, and implantable electronics) are ideal candidates for this purpose.1 Different from conventional medical instruments in hospitals that are usually bulky, non-portable, mono-functional, and time-consuming, flexible bioelectronics enable continuous, non-invasive, real-time, and comfortable monitoring of vital physiological signals, offering clinically related information for disease diagnosis, preventive healthcare, and rehabilitation care. This technology holds great promise for tracking and managing chronic conditions such as cardiovascular problems, metabolic disorders, and diabetes, which is of great significance in a rapidly aging population. Moreover, flexible bioelectronics are ultrathin, low-modulus, and lightweight, rendering them “mechanically invisible” to objects with arbitrary surfaces. Fueled by the rapid development of materials and manufacturing technologies, an era of flexible, wearable, and conformal devices is above the horizon.