Progresses and Perspectives of 1D Soft Sensing Devices for Healthcare Applications

Healthcare sensing devices enable continuous monitoring of diverse biosignals, such as respiration, heartbeat, temperature, inflammation, Electroencephalogram (EEG), and biomechanical movement, contributing to the management of health conditions and early diagnosis of diseases. However, clinically available tools have several limitations for real-time measurement of biosignals in non-hospital environments owing to their cumbersome, complex designs, and rigidity. To address these limitations, there has been a growing body of research that explores flexible and soft electronics for healthcare applications, which feature high mechanical compliance and adaptability. Especially, sensing devices based on fiber structures have attracted significant attention due to high flexibility, lightweight design, effective workspace and unique structural adaptability. Moreover, 1D sensing devices can be seamlessly integrated into garments and the human body with complex structures without any unconformity. In this perspective, The fabrication and electrical functionalization of fiber substrates and focus on recent advances in various fiber-based sensing systems for strain, pressure, temperature, pH, biomarkers, and neural activity is explored. Additionally, biodegradable fiber-based sensing devices as future healthcare technologies are briefly discussed. Finally, this article provides a summary and outlook on the remaining challenges for current fiber-based sensing devices.