This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in flexible electrochemical sensors, with particular emphasis on nanomaterial engineering, device fabrication strategies, and biomedical applications, and examines current limitations.
Abstract
Flexible electrochemical sensors have emerged as a promising platform for real-time, noninvasive health monitoring, driven by rapid advances in nanomaterials, fabrication methods, and system integration. Over the past decade, substantial efforts have focused on improving their mechanical flexibility, analytical sensitivity, and biocompatibility, thereby expanding their potential in clinical diagnostics and personalized healthcare. Despite this progress, several key challenges continue to hinder practical translation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in flexible electrochemical sensors, with particular emphasis on nanomaterial engineering, device fabrication strategies, and biomedical applications. Representative applications in sweat, interstitial fluid, tears, and saliva are summarized and critically discussed. The review also examines current limitations, including challenges in sample collection, the variable reliability of biofluid biomarkers, and interference from complex biological matrices. Finally, future perspectives are presented on the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning with flexible electrochemical sensors to enable improved data interpretation, interference correction, and more accurate biomarker identification in complex biofluids. Recent advances in flexible electrochemical biosensors were summarized. Sweat, ISF, saliva, and tear sensing performance was critically discussed. Nanomaterial strategies for enhanced sensitivity and flexibility were reviewed. 3D-printing for scalable and customizable sensor platforms was highlighted. AI-assisted analysis for biomarkers classification was discussed. Recent advances in flexible electrochemical biosensors were summarized. Sweat, ISF, saliva, and tear sensing performance was critically discussed. Nanomaterial strategies for enhanced sensitivity and flexibility were reviewed. 3D-printing for scalable and customizable sensor platforms was highlighted. AI-assisted analysis for biomarkers classification was discussed.
The growing demand for rapid, decentralized, and continuous health monitoring is driving the development of point‐of‐care testing (POCT) and wearable biosensing technologies. Electrochemical sensors have emerged as a leading platform owing to their high sensitivity, rapid response, and compatibility with miniaturized systems. Among these, screen‐printed electrodes (SPEs) offer distinct advantages, including low cost, scalable fabrication, and facile integration into portable devices. This mini‐review summarizes recent advances in SPE‐based electrochemical biosensors, focusing on fabrication strategies, surface modification approaches, and emerging biomedical applications. The incorporation of functional materials has significantly improved analytical performance, enabling sensitive and selective detection of diverse biomarkers—from small molecules and ions to hormones, proteins, and nucleic acids—in biofluids such as blood, sweat, and interstitial fluid (ISF). These developments have facilitated practical implementations in POCT and wearable systems. Current challenges and future perspectives are also discussed, including scalable manufacturing, long‐term operational stability, and system‐level integration. This review provides a concise overview of recent progress and highlights opportunities for advancing next‐generation portable and wearable biosensing platforms.
Zhiqi Li, Lu Zhang, Yuankai Chen et al.· Analysis & Sensing· 0 citations
Functionalized design is presented as an application‐backward, cross‐scale framework that links clinical needs and biomarker–matrix constraints with recognition chemistry, biointerfaces, functional materials, transduction architectures, calibration, data interpretation, manufacturability, and validation.
Yanan Li, Yang Zhou, Meng Yang et al.· Advanced Materials & Technol...· 0 citations
The integration of biochemical and biophysical sensing technologies in wearable devices represents a significant advancement in continuous and individualized health monitoring. Traditional wearable sensors are often restricted to either biophysical signals like mobility, temperature, electrophysiological activity, etc., or electrochemical analytes like glucose, lactate, etc. Integrating these complementary modalities into a single, compact, skin-conformal device creates opportunities for multimodal diagnostics and health monitoring systems. This review summarizes the recent advancements in multifunctional integrated flexible wearable biosensors that monitor chemical and physical parameters simultaneously. Initially, the insights are provided on the advances in flexible materials and fabrication techniques that support next-generation wearable devices. Subsequently, the recent progress in biophysical sensing, biochemical sensing, and strategies for their integration into multifunctional wearable platforms is critically examined. Finally, the review concludes with the key challenges to clinical translation and a perspective on future directions to achieve the next generation of integrated flexible wearable systems.
S. Sulthana, U. M. Iqbal, B. S. Sreeja et al.· Biosensors· 0 citations
In vivo biosensing technologies are revolutionizing how health and disease are monitored by enabling continuous, real-time measurement of biomarkers within the body. From the first enzymatic electrode biosensor developed to modern integrated sensing devices, progress in materials science, microelectronics, and bioengineering has expanded the scope of implantable sensors. Key requirements such as high analytical performance, long-term biocompatibility, safe energy supply, and reliable wireless communication must be met for successful clinical translation. Major application areas include metabolic monitoring (exemplified by continuous glucose monitors for diabetes), cardiovascular management, neural interfaces for brain activity, inflammatory disease tracking, oncology, transplant organ monitoring, bladder dysfunction management, and biomechanical strain sensing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of design strategies for in vivo biosensors, categorized into three implantation approaches: material-based implants, injectable microdevices, and surgical implants. We discuss the historical development, state-of-the-art examples, and design considerations for each strategy. A comparative analysis highlights their respective advantages and limitations. Finally, we examine the overarching challenges and future perspectives that will guide the next generation of implantable biosensing devices toward widespread clinical impact.
Healthcare is moving toward real-time, decentralized, and personalized monitoring, creating strong interest in wearable biosensors capable of detecting clinically relevant biomarkers outside conventional clinical settings. Nanomaterials can improve wearable biosensor performance by enhancing conductivity, surface area, flexibility, biorecognition, and signal transduction. This scoping review examines recent advances in nanomaterial-based wearable biosensors for personalized healthcare, with emphasis on electrochemical platforms. This review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Literature searches were performed in Web of Science, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Scopus for studies published between 2010 and 2025. Original research articles were included if they reported nanomaterial-incorporated wearable biosensors with relevance to healthcare monitoring, disease management, or personalized health assessment. Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 20 used electrochemical sensing strategies. The remaining studies used other sensing approaches but provided broader context for wearable nanobiosensor development. Carbon-based nanomaterials were the most frequently reported materials because of their high conductivity, large surface area, and compatibility with flexible platforms. Metallic nanoparticles, metal oxides, conductive polymers, MXenes, and transition metal dichalcogenides were also used to improve sensitivity, selectivity, mechanical stability, and biofluid compatibility. The reviewed devices targeted biomarkers in accessible biofluids such as sweat, saliva, tears, interstitial fluid, and skin-interfaced samples, with applications in chronic disease monitoring, physiological assessment, infectious disease detection, neurological and mental health monitoring, and therapeutic feedback. Nanomaterial-based wearable biosensors, particularly electrochemical platforms, show strong potential for personalized healthcare by enabling continuous or near real-time biomarker monitoring. However, broader translation requires improved validation, long-term stability, antifouling performance, reliable biofluid sampling, wearable integration, wireless communication, and clinically relevant on-body testing.
Md Sazedur Rahman, Hafizur Rahman, Fahmida Alam et al.· Biosensors and Biomolecular...· 0 citations
Advances in soft electronics and soft biorobotics have accelerated progress in advanced biomedical engineering. This new frontier motivates development of next‐generation healthcare technologies focused on minimally invasive robotic surgery and continuous real‐time physiological monitoring through wearable, implantable, and personalized devices. Among different physiological parameters, pressure represents a critical factor, extensively measured using diverse sensing mechanisms such as piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, optical, triboelectric and other different modalities. The integration of these sensing principles with emerging sustainable materials with advanced fabrication techniques has enabled the creation of flexible, stretchable, and conformable pressure sensors capable of adapting to unconventional surfaces. This literature review comprehensively summarizes up‐to‐date progress in pressure sensing mechanisms, materials, and structural design strategies, highlighting their potential towards developing advanced biomedical applications. Furthermore, it discusses current challenges, and future perspectives for developing high‐performance, biocompatible, and sustainable pressure sensors that will advance healthcare monitoring.
Rishabh B. Mishra, A. Ottomaniello, V. Mattoli· Advanced Electronic Material...· 0 citations