Department of Chemical Engineering, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China.
The Wolfson Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.
Sci Adv. 2024 Jan 12;10(2):eadj5389. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adj5389. Epub 2024 Jan 10.
Hydrogel-enabled skin bioelectronics that can continuously monitor health for extended periods is crucial for early disease detection and treatment. However, it is challenging to engineer ultrathin gas-permeable hydrogel sensors that can self-adhere to the human skin for long-term daily use (>1 week). Here, we present a ~10-micrometer-thick polyurethane nanomesh-reinforced gas-permeable hydrogel sensor that can self-adhere to the human skin for continuous and high-quality electrophysiological monitoring for 8 days under daily life conditions. This research involves two key steps: (i) material design by gelatin-based thermal-dependent phase change hydrogels and (ii) robust thinness geometry achieved through nanomesh reinforcement. The resulting ultrathin hydrogels exhibit a thickness of ~10 micrometers with superior mechanical robustness, high skin adhesion, gas permeability, and anti-drying performance. To highlight the potential applications in early disease detection and treatment that leverage the collective features, we demonstrate the use of ultrathin gas-permeable hydrogels for long-term, continuous high-precision electrophysiological monitoring under daily life conditions up to 8 days.
水凝胶基可穿戴皮肤生物电子学能够长时间连续监测健康状况，对于早期疾病检测和治疗至关重要。然而，设计能够自贴合人体皮肤、可长期日常使用（>1 周）的超薄透气水凝胶传感器极具挑战性。在此，我们提出了一种约 10 微米厚的聚氨酯纳米网增强透气水凝胶传感器，在日常生活条件下，它可以自贴合人体皮肤，连续、高质量地监测 8 天的生理电信号。该研究涉及两个关键步骤：（i）基于明胶的热依赖性相转变水凝胶的材料设计，以及（ii）通过纳米网增强实现的坚固超薄几何形状。所得超薄水凝胶具有约 10 微米的厚度，具有优异的机械强度、高皮肤贴合性、透气性和抗干燥性能。为了突出利用这些综合特性在早期疾病检测和治疗方面的潜在应用，我们演示了在日常生活条件下长达 8 天的长期、连续、高精度生理电监测中使用超薄透气水凝胶。
