Research trends and knowledge structure of bra studies: A CiteSpace-based review

To systematically investigate the evolution of research hotspots and the knowledge structure in the bra field, this study analyzed 415 related publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. CiteSpace v.6.3.R1 was employed for visualization and bibliometric analysis to examine the research background, distribution of scholarly contributions, evolution of research hotspots, and knowledge structure of the field. The results indicated that bra-related research has shown a continuous growth trend over the past three decades, with research focuses gradually expanding from fundamental support and clinical care to sports protection, intelligent applications, and personalized design. The knowledge system of the bra field can be conceptualized across three dimensions: demand, technology, and application scenarios. Future research is expected to focus on population-specific adaptation, synergistic optimization of morphology-structure-material systems, high-fidelity digital modeling, multidimensional sensing and monitoring, intelligent applications, and industrial translation. The findings provide a systematic reference for academic research and industrial practices in the bra field.