Flexible electronics have been drawing significant attention for healthcare applications and show great promise for monitoring of blood circulation (e.g., postoperative monitoring of free flaps). However, existing methods for design and fabrication of interfaces with human skin still cannot meet the challenging clinical requirements of superior adhesion during monitoring and avoiding wound damage during peel-off. Now, writing in the journal National Science Review, a team of researchers from China and Singapore proposes a soft biosensor with universal responsive hydrogel interfaces for detecting blood circulation complications. They develop thermoresponsive and printable hydrogel inks to achieve rapidly high-precision patterning and wide-range adhesion regulation of interface layers. In clinical cases, the hydrogel biosensor can establish robust hydrogel/flap skin coupling for high-fidelity signal acquisition during monitoring, and ensure benign detachment to prevent tissue injury after monitoring. They achieve precise arterial perfusion monitoring based on the perfusion index (PI) via an 810 nm light source. Additionally, they propose a new metric, the balance index (BI), to monitor venous congestion. By analyzing BI, PI, and skin temperature, the biosensor enables accurate detection and differentiation of blood circulation complications.

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