Revolution in Flexible Wearable Electronics for Temperature and Pressure Monitoring—A Review

Abstract

In the last few decades, technology innovation has had a huge influence on our lives and well-being. Various factors of observing our physiological characteristics are taken into account. Wearable sensing tools are one of the most imperative sectors that are now trending and are expected to grow significantly in the coming days. Externally utilized tools connected to any human to assess physiological characteristics of interest are known as wearable sensors. Wearable sensors range in size from tiny to large tools that are physically affixed to the user and operate on wired or wireless terms. With increasing technological capabilities and a greater grasp of current research procedures, the usage of wearable sensors has a brighter future. In this review paper, the recent developments of two important types of wearable electronics apparatuses have been discussed for temperature and pressure sensing (Psensing) applications. Temperature sensing (Tsensing) is one of the most important physiological factors for determining human body temperature, with a focus on patients with long-term chronic conditions, normally healthy, unconscious, and injured patients receiving surgical treatment, as well as the health of medical personnel. Flexile Psensing devices are classified into three categories established on their transduction mechanisms: piezoresistive, capacitive, and piezoelectric. Many efforts have been made to enhance the characteristics of the flexible Psensing devices established on these mechanisms.

A Review of Noninvasive Methodologies to Estimate the Blood Pressure Waveform

“…A hand-held strain gauge pressure sensor, referred to as a tonometer, is placed on the radial artery, and light pressure is applied to slightly flatten the artery until it begins to deform as shown in Figure 2 . A piezoelectric pressure sensor is generally used to monitor BP waveforms in the radial artery of the wrist [ 66 ]. The measurement site is chosen to allow for the presence of a bony structure beneath the artery [ 67 , 68 ].…”

“…Studies are being conducted to find some reliable and flexible BP sensors to measure BP noninvasively and to develop commercial devices [ 66 , 84 , 85 , 86 ]. Although several methods have been proposed to replace the invasive BP waveform measurement process, no reliable commercial device is yet available.…”

Versatile nano–micro collagen fiber-based wearable electronics for health monitoring and thermal management

“…With the development of wearable electronics, exible strain sensors have drawn vast attention due to their capabilities of capturing postures and monitoring various human activities by transducing tensile and compressive strains into electrical signals, [1][2][3] which make them applicable to personalized health monitoring, 4,5 human-machine interfaces, [6][7][8] so robots, [9][10][11] etc. Over the decades, exible strain sensors with various transduction mechanisms have been developed successfully, including piezoelectricity, capacitance, piezoresistivity, etc.…”

Optoelectronic Pressure Sensor Based on the Bending Loss of Plastic Optical Fibers Embedded in Stretchable Polydimethylsiloxane

“…The quick advancement of science and technology in the fields of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, smart devices, new materials, power supplies, sensing modalities, and assembly techniques is providing impetus for the development of new flexible skin-like sensors based on flexible electronics [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Electronic devices that can bend, stretch, and fit curved surfaces without losing functionality are known as flexible electronic sensors [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…These sensors can be attached to the human body (externally or internally) [ 3 , 8 ] or civil structures [ 9 , 10 ] for a variety of promising applications in healthcare, biomedicine [ 8 ], human–machine interfaces, soft robotics, sports performance, wearable electronics [ 3 , 4 ], structural health monitoring, security, and environmental monitoring [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Their ability to conform to surfaces by removing device motion or mechanical mismatch [ 2 , 8 , 12 ] enables continuous, dynamic, and accurate assessment of a variety of physiological parameters (pulse rate, body temperature, gait analysis, heart rate, sleep quality assessment [ 1 , 5 , 7 , 13 ], tactile perception [ 5 , 6 ], pressure monitoring at pressure points in bedridden patients [ 14 , 15 ], detection of pressure areas in wheelchair patients [ 16 ], muscle activity monitoring [ 1 , 6 , 13 ], among others) or the detection of stress, cracks [ 9 , 17 ], or damage in bigger structures such as airplanes, bridges, buildings, or other civil constructions [ 10 , 11 , 18 ].…”