Flexible bioelectronics for physiological signals sensing and disease treatment

Flexible bioelectronics, including wearable and implantable electronics, have revolutionized the way of human-machine interaction due to the fact that they can provide natural and seamless interactions with humans and keep stable and durable at strained states. As sensor elements or biomimetic actuators, flexible bioelectronics can dynamically sense and monitor physiological signals, reveal real-time physical health information and provide timely precise stimulations or treatments. Thus, the flexible bioelectronics are playing increasingly important roles in human-health monitoring and disease treatment, which will significantly change the future of healthcare as well as our relationships with electronics. This review summarizes recent major progress in the development of flexible substrates or encapsulation materials, sensors, circuits and energy-autonomous powers toward digital healthcare monitoring, emphasizing its role in biomedical applications in vivo and problems in practical applications. A future perspective into the challenges and opportunities in emerging flexible bioelectronics designs for the next-generation healthcare monitoring systems is also presented.