With the rapid development of science and technology, the use of technology to improve human health has become a global trend, which has promoted the rise of biomedical engineering research. As an emerging field, wearable biosensors are expected to enable digital health and artificial intelligence medicine. According to IDTechEx research, the global wearables market is expected to grow to nearly $70 billion by 2025, with healthcare dominating the industry. A significant portion of the new market size is expected to be made up of wearable biosensors. The upstream of the biosensor industry chain is mainly a product component, the midstream is mainly R&D and manufacturers, and the downstream is widely used, mainly including the medical field. The scale of China's biosensor market is expected to continue to expand, and it will have a wide range of application prospects in the fields of clinical diagnosis, industrial control, food analysis, drug analysis, environmental protection, biotechnology, biochips, and robots.
By developing edge computing and AI functions on wearable sensors, it is possible to enhance their intelligence, which is essential for AI in the Internet of Things, and to reduce power consumption by reducing data exchange between sensor terminals and computing units. This enables wearables to process data locally, providing real-time processing, faster feedback, and reduced reliance on network connectivity and external devices, resulting in increased efficiency, privacy, and responsiveness for applications such as health monitoring, activity tracking, and smart wearable technology.
However, current sensors lack computing power, and their mechanical mismatch with soft tissues can lead to motion artifacts that limit their practical wearable applications.
Figure: Wearable biosensor technology drives the medical field
To address this challenge, a research team led by Professor Zhang Shiming from the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has introduced a breakthrough in-sensor computing platform. The platform is based on an emerging microelectronic device, the organic electrochemical transistor (OECT), which was invented specifically for bioelectronic applications. The research team established a standardized material and manufacturing protocol that makes OECT stretchable. Through these efforts, the resulting microelectronics platform integrates sensing, computing, and stretchability into a single hardware entity, giving it unique capabilities for in-wearable sensor computing applications.
The research team further developed an easy-to-use multi-channel printing platform to simplify the large-scale manufacturing of sensors. By integrating with the circuit, they demonstrated the platform's ability to measure human electrophysiological signals in real-time. The results show that the platform enables stable, low-power field computing even during motion.
The study was recently published in the journal Nature Electronics and is titled "Compute Platform for Wearable Sensors Based on Stretchable Organic Organic Electrochemical Transistors."
"We have built a wearable in-sensor computing platform using non-traditional soft microelectronics technology, providing hardware solutions for emerging fields such as human-machine interface, digital health, and AI medicine," said Professor Zhang Shiming. ”
The research team believes their work will advance the application of wearables and edge AI in the field of health. Their next steps include refining the platform and exploring its potential applications in a variety of healthcare settings.
Professor Cheung added, "This groundbreaking work not only demonstrates the innovative capabilities of the HKU team, but also opens up new opportunities for wearable technology. The team's commitment to improving quality of life through advanced health technology is a testament to this. ”
