Ultra‐Thin Wearable and Flexible Electronics for Intelligent Healthcare: Materials Design, Devices, and Applications

ABSTRACT The rising burden of chronic diseases and aging populations has raised an urgent demand for real‐time, personalized, and continuous health monitoring. However, the rigidity and bulkiness of traditional medical devices often impair wearability and hinder practical deployment. In contrast, ultra‐thin wearable flexible electronic devices have emerged as promising alternatives, due to excellent inherent flexibility, minimal thickness, superior tissue conformability, and long‐term reliability. This Review presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances in this field by critically analyzing three core pillars: material engineering, device–tissue interface engineering, and application‐specific system integration. First, we summarize various functional materials from elastomers and textiles to hydrogels and metal nanomeshes, with emphasis on their chemical modification, structural design, and functional integration. Second, we examine strategies for constructing adhesive, seamless, and low‐impedance device–tissue interfaces via optimized molecular interactions, interfacial architectures, and mechanical conformality. Finally, we highlight representative applications in electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, stomatology, and ophthalmotology. By bridging materials, interfaces, and systems, this Review summarizes progress and challenges in wearable thin‐film electronics and proposes key future directions: automated patterning, standardized interface testing, and improved in vivo validation, which will help inspire future research across materials science and biomedical engineering.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-05-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.76062
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Ultra‐Thin Wearable and Flexible Electronics for Intelligent Healthcare: Materials Design, Devices, and Applications

H Yang, Jun Fu, Han Lu, Yang Cong
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Ultra‐Thin Wearable and Flexible Electronics for Intelligent Healthcare: Materials Design, Devices, and Applications

H Yang, Jun Fu, Han Lu, Yang Cong
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rising burden of chronic diseases and aging populations has raised an urgent demand for real‐time, personalized, and continuous health monitoring. However, the rigidity and bulkiness of traditional medical devices often impair wearability and hinder practical deployment. In contrast, ultra‐thin wearable flexible electronic devices have emerged as promising alternatives, due to excellent inherent flexibility, minimal thickness, superior tissue conformability, and long‐term reliability. This Review presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances in this field by critically analyzing three core pillars: material engineering, device–tissue interface engineering, and application‐specific system integration. First, we summarize various functional materials from elastomers and textiles to hydrogels and metal nanomeshes, with emphasis on their chemical modification, structural design, and functional integration. Second, we examine strategies for constructing adhesive, seamless, and low‐impedance device–tissue interfaces via optimized molecular interactions, interfacial architectures, and mechanical conformality. Finally, we highlight representative applications in electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, stomatology, and ophthalmotology. By bridging materials, interfaces, and systems, this Review summarizes progress and challenges in wearable thin‐film electronics and proposes key future directions: automated patterning, standardized interface testing, and improved in vivo validation, which will help inspire future research across materials science and biomedical engineering.

Advanced Functional Materials
Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.