Recent Advances in Wearable Ultrasound Patches for Healthcare Applications

Wearable ultrasound patches, as a transformative innovation redefining the boundaries of traditional ultrasound medicine, signify a shift from hospital-centered, episodic diagnosis and therapy toward portable, personalized, and continuous healthcare solutions. As an emerging and rapidly evolving research direction, fully integrated wearable ultrasound platforms-synergistically combining real-time imaging, closed-loop sensing, and on-demand therapeutic intervention within a single conformal patch and system-have been progressively utilized for chronic disease management and closed-loop neuromodulation. This review summarizes and discusses the advanced wearable ultrasound technologies to provide insight into the underlying strategies that enable the convergence of diagnosis and therapy in diverse disease scenarios. This review primarily focuses on wearable ultrasound patches and systems for cardiovascular monitoring, musculoskeletal assessment, neurological treatment, sonodynamic therapy, drug delivery, and integrated theranostics. In addition, the challenges and development prospects of wearable ultrasound patches are analyzed to promote further clinical translation, with emphasis on the synergistic optimization of imaging and therapy, long-term integration reliability, and fully integrated portable designs. It is earnestly expected that this kind of flexible-electronics-enabled wearable ultrasound technology will stimulate comprehensive investigation and promote the clinical development of next-generation multifunctional theranostic platforms.