Flexible and Wearable Sensors for Health Monitoring Applications

Abstract

Over the past decade, flexible electronics have attracted much interest as conventional semiconductors are not competent to provide new product paradigms. The flexible devices are bendable, stretched, and can be folded without losing functionality. Flexible electronics devices are used in various fields, such as consumer electronics, medical, health care, and security devices, because they are generally lightweight, non-breakable, and involve a relatively simple manufacturing process. The use of wearable electronics for non-invasive real-time health monitoring has also gained popularity. The continuous monitoring of body locomotion, biophysical parameters, and biomarkers is valuable in quantifying human performance and off-site patient care. Flexible electronics provide a natural interaction between the human body and wearable devices because of their high flexibility and conformity.

So, in this chapter, we shall discuss the flexible substrate, active material, transduction mechanism, and fabrication processes of different flexible sensors with a special focus on temperature, pressure, and strain sensors.