Weaving Sensing Fibers into Electrochemical Fabric for Real‐Time Health Monitoring

TLDR

Wearable sensing technologies are of great interest for real‑time health monitoring, yet thin‑film sensors often fail on soft, irregular body surfaces and lack breathability. This work proposes a general strategy to fabricate electrochemical fabric from sensing fiber units. The fiber units, integrated into the fabric, can detect multiple physiological signals such as glucose, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and pH. The resulting electrochemical fabric remains highly flexible, retains structural integrity and sensing performance under repeated bending and twisting, and enables real‑time monitoring of human health conditions with high efficacy.

Abstract

Abstract Wearable sensing technologies have received considerable interests due to the promising use for real‐time monitoring of health conditions. The sensing part is typically made into a thin film that guarantees high flexibility with different sensing materials as functional units at different locations. However, a thin‐film sensor easily breaks during use because it cannot adapt to the soft or irregular body surfaces, and, moreover, it is not breathable or comfortable for the wearable application. Herein, a new and general strategy of making electrochemical fabric from sensing fiber units is reported. These units efficiently detect a variety of physiological signals such as glucose, Na + , K + , Ca 2+ , and pH. The electrochemical fabric is highly flexible and maintains structural integrity and detection ability under repeated deformations, including bending and twisting. They demonstrate the capacity to monitor health conditions of human body in real time with high efficacy.