journal article·2026-06-17Open access

Machine Learning-Enabled Wearable Piezoelectric Acoustic Sensor for Real-Time Breast Abnormality Detection

Shuaitong He, Zhiyi Sun, Qijun Chen, Ryan L. Hong, Jingjing Lu, Peng Zhang, Li Zhang, Jeongmin Hong

Applied Sciences· Volume 16· Issue 12

Abstract

In contemporary society, breast health has become a significant public health concern, particularly among women. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, both the incidence and mortality rates of breast tumors have steadily increased in recent years. Therefore, effective early-stage screening and postoperative monitoring are essential for maintaining breast health. However, conventional clinical diagnostic modalities are typically bulky, operationally complex, and unsuitable for continuous real-time monitoring, which limits their use in portable and everyday health management applications. To address these limitations, this study proposes a machine learning-integrated wearable piezoelectric sensing platform as an auxiliary tool for breast health assessment. The device consists of a PDMS matching layer embedded with flexible silver nanowires, a P(VDF-TrFE) piezoelectric layer, and a multi-channel low-noise signal acquisition circuit. It is capable of acquiring acoustic echo signals from tissue-mimicking environments and automatically evaluating signal validity using a convolutional neural network (CNN). By integrating piezoelectric sensing with deep learning-based signal analysis, the proposed system achieves a signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 70 dB and a real-time classification accuracy above 96% under controlled conditions. These results demonstrate that the platform provides a compact, portable, and intelligent approach for wearable sensing of mechanical heterogeneity and highlight its potential for future development in continuous biomedical monitoring technologies.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Ultrasound Imaging and Elastography · Phonocardiography and Auscultation Techniques

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Sciences, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China

Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

BioScience Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

R&D Division, JS Nanotechnologies, LLC, Fremont, CA 94538, USA

Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Funding

HBUT · US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering · JS Nanotechnologies LLC

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