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The increased interest in sensing tattoos reflects a shift in wearable technology, emphasizing their flexible, skin-adherent nature. These devices, driven by advancements in nanotechnology and materials science, offer highly sensitive and customizable sensors. The growing body of research in this area indicates a rising curiosity in their design and applications, with potential uses ranging from vital sign monitoring to biomarker detection. Sensing tattoos present a promising avenue in wearable healthcare technology, attracting attention from researchers, clinicians, and technology enthusiasts. The objective of this study is to analyze the development, application, and integration of the sensing tattoos in the health domain. A review was conducted on PubMed and Scopus, applying a standard checklist and a qualification process. The outcome reported 37 studies. Sensing tattoos hold transformative potential in health monitoring and physiological sensing, driven by their focus on affordability, user-friendly design, and versatile sensorization solutions. Despite their promise, ongoing refinement is essential, addressing limitations in adhesion, signal quality, biocompatibility, and regulatory complexities. Identified opportunities, including non-invasive health monitoring, multiplexed detection, and cost-effective fabrication methods, open avenues for personalized healthcare applications. However, bridging gaps in medical device standards, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance is imperative for seamless integration. A key theme calls for a holistic, user-centric approach, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration. Balancing innovation with practicality, prioritizing ethics, and fostering collaboration are crucial for the evolution of these technologies. The dynamic state of the field is evident, with active exploration of new frontiers. This overview also provides a roadmap, urging scholars, industry players, and regulators to collectively contribute to the responsible integration of sensing tattoos into daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing a noninvasive skin peroxide monitoring technology is highly desirable for managing a number of metabolic disorders associated with diabetes, pulmonary diseases, or other health conditions. To date, the majority of studies on peroxide detection have been conducted on simulated sweat and high pH conditions, which are beyond the physiological range, in order to provide an enhanced response. Here, a skin-worn amperometric sensor, based on laser-induced graphene (LIG), surface-engineered with a Prussian blue (PB)–chitosan (CS) network was fabricated by one-step electrodeposition for the stable and sensitive detection of H2O2 in human eccrine perspiration. The hybrid (PB–CS) network and laser-written electrode configuration were optimized through systematic investigation of electrodeposition parameters and concurrent feedback from electrochemical and morphological characterization at each fabrication step. Different from the multitude of carbon-based electrodes functionalized with metallic nanoparticles reported in the literature, the sensor was operated at a low potential of −0.036 V vs Ag/AgCl in unmodified human eccrine perspiration. The low working potential ensured that the sensor is highly specific, immune to the current from oxygen reduction or common interfering species, whereas the inclusion of CS in the hybrid coating afforded a highly stable performance over a period of 14 days. The sensor was able to monitor H2O2 over the linear range of 10–1000 μM with a low detection limit of 6.31 μM and achieved a recovery of 98.73% (%RSD 0.86) in human eccrine perspiration. This facile biosensor based on directly laser-written electrodes coupled with the one-step PB–CS fabrication strategy has the potential to form the basis for the development of oxidase enzyme-based sensors in sweat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction:The best method of body temperature measurement in children has been investigated for many years. It has become possible to make non-invasive continuous temperature measurement by using smartphones, to record the values and to give warning in case of fever with the technological developments in recent years. Nevertheless, there is no data on the accuracy of body temperature measurements using this method. We aimed to compare measurements made by the smartphone applications and using the axillary digital thermometers.Methods:This was a cross-sectional observational study. All patients, who were admitted to the pediatric emergency department between 1 July 2017 and 30 September 2017 with fever, were included. Demographic characteristics and the diagnosis of the patients were recorded. The body temperatures measured using smartphone applications and those using axillary digital thermometers were compared.Results:During the study period, 234 measurements were done in 53 patients. The mean age of the patients was 58±51 months. Thirty (57%) patients were male and eleven (21%) were infant. The most frequent diagnoses were upper respiratory tract infection (20, 38%) and acute gastroenteritis (12, 23%). There was no significant difference between smartphone applications and axillary digital thermometers in detecting fever (p=0.754). The mean body temperature value taken using axillary digital thermometers and smartphone applications were 37.07±0.85 °C and 37.16±0.89 °C, respectively. Both measurements were strongly correlated with each other (r=0.874, p

Human collaborative robots (HCRs) are a useful future workforce because they can operate alongside people. Proximity and tactile sensing are important for HCRs to ensure safety. In this study, we propose a combined sensor module for HCRs using time-of-flight (ToF) as well as self-capacitance proximity and tactile sensors. The distance to an object in a noncontact range can be detected by a ToF sensor; however, the detection accuracy and the X-Y measurement range are lower for short ranges, with the Z axis as the measurement plane direction. The self-capacitance proximity and tactile sensors can detect objects and contact conditions in short ranges. For high-sensitivity proximity and contact measurements over a large distance, two of the aforementioned sensors can be combined. Prototypes of the sensor modules were prepared, and sixteen modules were mounted on a robot arm to detect the position and distance of an object at 300 mm or less, along with the pressure and position upon contact. In addition, the robot arm was controlled using information obtained from the sensors. The proposed sensor modules can thus be employed for proximity and tactile sensing in HCRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both artificial electronic and ionic skins, the distinction of multi‐stimuli response in a single sensing unit is challenging, due to unavoidable mutual signal interference. Here, a zwitterionic skin sensor system that can continuously monitor and differentiate three‐stimuli‐responsive information in real‐time is designed. This sandwich‐structured sensor system is based on a zwitterionic thermo–glucose‐sensitive skin‐like hydrogel at its upper and lower layers with a middle isolation elastomer layer, enabling monitoring and distinction of temperature, mechanical and glucose information without signal interference: 1) the capacitance of the upper/lower layers as glucose–temperature‐insensitive is variable to measure strain; 2) the resistance of the upper hydrogel as glucose‐insensitive is variable to measure strain and temperature; and 3) the resistance of the lower hydrogel can detect three indicators. Based on the skin sensor system, a smart wound dressing is developed to pro‐heal chronic diabetic wounds and enable continuous real‐time monitoring of three indicators—infection, swelling, and blood glucose. This work provides a new method of real‐time monitoring and the distinction of multi‐stimuli response in a wearable device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wearable biomedical sensors have enabled noninvasive and continuous physiological monitoring for daily health management and early detection of chronic diseases. Among biomedical sensors, wearable pH sensors attracted significant interest, as pH influences most biological reactions. However, conformable pH sensors that have sweat absorption ability, are self-adhesive to the skin, and are gas permeable remain largely unexplored. In this study, we present a pioneering approach to this problem by developing a Janus membrane-based pH sensor with self-adhesiveness on the skin. The sensor is composed of a hydrophobic polyurethane-polydimethylsiloxane porous hundreds nanometer-thick substrate and a hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol)-poly(acrylic acid) porous nanofiber layer. This Janus membrane exhibits a thickness of around 10 μm, providing a conformable adhesion to the skin. The simultaneous realization of solution absorption, gas permeability, and self-adhesiveness makes it suitable for long-term continuous monitoring without compromising the comfort of the wearer. The pH sensor was tested successfully for continuous monitoring for 7.5 h, demonstrating its potential for stable analysis of skin health conditions. The Janus membrane-based pH sensor holds significant promise for comprehensive skin health monitoring and wearable biomedical applications.

In recent years, human cooperative robots (HCRs) have attracted considerable attention. HCRs should be equipped with proximity and contact sensors to ensure human safety. This study combines time-of-flight (ToF) and self-capacitance sensors to obtain proximity and contact sensors for HCRs. ToF sensor can determine the distance between an object and sensor in the proximity range; however, the detection accuracy decreases in a close range. The self-capacitance proximity sensor can detect objects before and during contact; it has high sensitivity in close range. For proximity measurements with high sensitivity and wide range, it is possible to combine the ToF and self-capacitance sensors. We modularized one sensor and connected the other sensor module using a serial bus; the sensor covered the entire HCR surface to ensure human safety. In this sensor, it is possible to obtain efficient measurements for distance ranging 300–0 mm. The prototype 24 pieces of sensor modules were established on the robot arm and these sensor modules detected the object’s position without establishing any contact and detected the human touch. Additionally, the robot arm was controlled in real time based on the sensor information. We believe the proposed sensor system can be employed as a proximity and contact sensor for HCRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Backgrounds: Reliable non-invasive methods for measuring body temperature are essential for the diagnosis and monitoring of infectious disease.Methods: This study used Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and the Bland- Altman plot to analyse the agreement between temperature measurements using an ingestible capsule sensor, a skin sensor and two non-invasive peripheral temperature measurements (axillary and infrared non-contact), collected from a population of febrile patient admitted for infectious disease.Results: Of the 77 febrile patients screened, 26 patients were enrolled. The ICC between axillary temperature measurements (Taxi) vs. non-contact measurements (Tno-c) were 0.34 [-0.18; 0.63], 0.87 [0.55; 0.94] between Taxi vs. ingestible capsule measurements (Tcap) and 0.12 [-0.09; 0.37] between Taxi vs. Tetac. The mean difference between Taxi vs Tno-c was -1.18 °C with limits of agreement (LoA) from -2.96 to 0.58 °C. The mean difference between Taxi vs Tcap was 0.48 °C, with LoA from -0.60 to 1.56 °C. The mean difference between Taxi vs Tetac was -4.23 °C with LoA from -7.22 to -1.23 °C.Conclusions: Ingestible capsule measurements are reliable enough to adequately estimate the core body temperature in clinical practice. Its non-invasiveness, and the real-time remote control offer new opportunities for future research into fever during infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-powered skin sensors have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their great potential in medical care, robotics, prosthetics, and sports. More importantly, self-powered skin sensors do not need any energy-supply components like batteries, which allows them to work sustainably and saves them the trouble of replacement of batteries. The self-powered skin sensors are mainly based on energy harvesters, with the device itself generating electrical signals when triggered by the detected stimulus or analyte, such as body motion, touch/pressure, acoustic sound, and chemicals in sweat. Herein, the recent research achievements of self-powered skin sensors are comprehensively and systematically reviewed. According to the different monitoring signals, the self-powered skin sensors are summarized and discussed with a focus on the working mechanism, device structure, and the sensing principle. Based on the recent progress, the key challenges that exist and the opportunities that lie ahead are also discussed.

Continuous monitoring of cortisol at the surface of the skin would advance the diagnosis and treatment of cortisol-related diseases, or of elevated cortisol levels related to stress in otherwise healthy populations. Reliable and accurate detection of cortisol at the skin surface remains a limiting factor in real-time monitoring of cortisol. To address this limitation, cortisol extraction through excised human skin by reverse iontophoresis was studied in vitro in side-by-side diffusion cells using a radiolabeled probe. The skin was subjected to four direct current regimens (0, 28, 56, 113 μA cm − 2 ) with the anode in the donor chamber and the cumulative cortisol concentrations recorded in the receiver chamber. The 56 and 113 μA cm − 2 regimens significantly increased transport of 3 H-cortisol through the skin, and current density correlated directly with transcutaneous transport of 3 H-cortisol. The threshold of detection of electroosmotic versus passive diffusion of cortisol through the skin was between 28 and 56 μA cm − 2 . The results of this study are significant in examining how lipophilic analytes found in the bloodstream respond to reverse iontophoresis across the skin. In addition, a device integration technique is presented which illustrates how continuous cortisol extraction and sensing could potentially be achieved in a conventional wearable format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin-mounted electronics is the new frontier for unobtrusive body-centric monitoring systems. In designing the wireless devices to be placed in direct contact with the human skin, the presence of the lossy body cannot be ignored because of strong electromagnetic interactions. In this paper, the performance of epidermal antennas, for application to radio frequency identification (RFID) links in the UHF band, was investigated by means of numerical simulations and laboratory tests on fabricated prototypes. The analysis demonstrates the existence of an optimal size of the antennas (from 3 to 6 cm for loops and from 6 to 15 cm for dipoles) and of upper bounds in the achievable radiation gain (less than −10 dB in the case of 0.5 mm thick application substrates) as a consequence of the balance between the two opposing mechanisms of radiation and loss. This behavior, which is controlled by the hosting medium, does not depend on the antenna shape, even if the loop layout permits considerably minimizing the device size. Even the conductivity of the antenna trace plays only a second-order role; low-cost inkjet printable paints with conductivity higher than 10^4 S/m are suitable to provide radiation performance comparable with the performance of copper-made antennas. Starting from the investigation of the above cited physical phenomena, including the effect of common classes of suitable substrate membranes, guidelines are finally derived for the optimal design of real RFID epidermal antennas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Emerging as an innovative class of polymeric material, vitrimers possess the advantages of thermoplastics as well as thermosets and of great interest due to its ability to reduce environmental pollution and waste of resources caused by plastic abuse. In the present work, we prepared a series of carbon nanotube-vitrimer composites (EPCNT x) containing double dynamic covalent bonds (carboxylate and disulfide bonds), of which EPCNT 5 (the MWCNTs content is 5 wt%) displayed the best electrical conductivity (1.63 S/m) and good mechanical properties (tensile stress = 16.3 MPa, fracture strain = 81.8%). Additionally, EPCNT 5 has the advantages of vitrimer, i.e., reprocessability, degradability, and photo-welding performance, fully combining the advantages of vitrimer and epoxy composites. Furthermore, the EPCNT 5 is fabricated as a skin sensor, demonstrating its potential application in the field of skin sensing. [Display omitted] • Integrating double dynamic covalent bonds into epoxy composites and imparting reprocessing and degradable properties. • The MWCNTs in the matrix gives the material photo-thermal properties enabling NIR light welding in presence of thiols. • The EPCNT 5 is fabricated as a skin sensor, demonstrating its potential for application in the field of skin sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin sensors are of paramount importance for flexible wearable electronics, which are active in medical diagnosis and healthcare monitoring. Ultrahigh sensitivity, large measuring range, and high skin conformability are highly desirable for skin sensors. Here, an ultrathin flexible piezoresistive sensor with high sensitivity and wide detection range is reported based on hierarchical nanonetwork structured pressure-sensitive material and nanonetwork electrodes. The hierarchical nanonetwork material is composed of silver nanowires (Ag NWs), graphene (GR), and polyamide nanofibers (PANFs). Among them, Ag NWs are evenly interspersed in a PANFs network, forming conductive pathways. Also, GR acts as bridges of crossed Ag NWs. The hierarchical nanonetwork structure and GR bridges of the pressure-sensitive material enable the ultrahigh sensitivity for the pressure sensor. More specifically, the sensitivity of 134 kPa -1 (0-1.5 kPa) and the low detection of 3.7 Pa are achieved for the pressure sensor. Besides, the nanofibers act as a backbone, which provides effective protection for Ag NWs and GR as pressure is applied. Hence, the pressure sensor possesses an excellent durability (>8000 cycles) and wide detection range (>75 kPa). Additionally, ultrathin property (7 μm) and nanonetwork structure provide high skin conformability for the pressure sensor. These superior performances lay a foundation for the application of pressure sensors in physiological signal monitoring and pressure spatial distribution detection.

Self-powered skin sensors have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their great potential in medical care, robotics, prosthetics, and sports. More importantly, self-powered skin sensors do not need any energy-supply components like batteries, which allows them to work sustainably and saves them the trouble of replacement of batteries. The self-powered skin sensors are mainly based on energy harvesters, with the device itself generating electrical signals when triggered by the detected stimulus or analyte, such as body motion, touch/pressure, acoustic sound, and chemicals in sweat. Herein, the recent research achievements of self-powered skin sensors are comprehensively and systematically reviewed. According to the different monitoring signals, the self-powered skin sensors are summarized and discussed with a focus on the working mechanism, device structure, and the sensing principle. Based on the recent progress, the key challenges that exist and the opportunities that lie ahead are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fingertip skin exhibits high sensitivity in a broad pressure range, and can detect diverse stimuli, including textures, temperature, humidity, etc. Despite adopting diverse microstructures and functional materials, achieving skin sensor devices possessing high pressure sensitivity over a wide linear range and with multifunctional sensing capabilities is still challenging. Herein, inspired by the microstructures of fingertip skin, a highly sensitive skin sensor is demonstrated with a linear response over a broad pressure range and multifunctional sensing capabilities. The porous sensing layer is designed with hierarchical microstructures on the surface. By optimizing the porosity and the graphite concentration, a fabricated skin sensor device exhibits a superior sensitivity of 245 kPa−1 over a broad linear pressure range from 5 Pa to 120 kPa. For practical application demonstrations, the sensor devices are utilized to monitor subtle wrist pulse and diverse human motions including finger bending, wrist bending, and feet movement. Furthermore, this novel sensor device demonstrates potential applications in recognizing textures and detecting environmental temperatures, thereby marking an important progress for constructing advanced electronic skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a multifunctional tactile sensor inspired by human hairy skin structure, in which the sensitive hair sensor and the robust skin sensor are integrated into a single device via a pair of Co-based ferromagnetic microwire arrays in a very simple manner. The sensor possesses a self-tunable effective compliance with respect to the magnitude of the stimulus, allowing a wide range of loading force to be measured. The sensor also exhibits some amazing functions, such as air-flow detection, material property characterization, and excellent damage resistance. The novel sensing mechanism and structure provide a new strategy for designing multifunctional tactile sensors and show great potential applications on intelligent robot and sensing in harsh environments.