Materials for wearable sensors

The rise of wearable sensors for health monitoring is still at an early stage, though it is rapidly replacing the traditional diagnosis methods with the integration of various breakthroughs in sensor design, advanced materials, sample extraction, and data transmission processes. The use of stretchable electronics and optical devices makes them compatible to use on human skin in varying stress, strain, and in a constantly changing environment. Different types of nanomaterials and polymers in wearable sensors enhance the selectivity and specificity of the biomarker detection. The most important challenges of wearable sensors are sample extraction and storage to monitor the various physiologically important metabolites in body fluids. Recent advances in sensor fabrication on soft substrates are largely focused on the development of reagent-free noninvasive diagnostics for affordable healthcare. In this chapter, the designing and various components of a wearable sensor, and its applications are discussed.