Paper-based microfluidics for wearable soft bioelectronics

TL;DR

This paper reviews paper-based microfluidics for wearable devices, focusing on their role in non-invasive, real-time health monitoring and diagnostics.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of recent innovations in materials and designs for paper-based microfluidics in wearable healthcare.

Findings

Paper-based microfluidics enable precise, capillary-driven handling of biofluids for real-time diagnostics.

Innovative on-skin applications include wearable biofluid sampling and disease diagnostics.

Challenges remain in clinical translation, but future advances in materials and integration with machine learning are promising.

Abstract

Wearable biosensing technologies are transforming healthcare by enabling continuous, real-time monitoring of physiological states at the point of care. Flexible microfluidics, particularly paper-based microfluidics, serve as critical interfaces between the body and soft electronics, enabling precise, capillary-driven, and non-invasive biofluid handling for real-time and clinically informative diagnostics. In this review, we discuss the fundamentals of paper-based microfluidics, highlighting critical considerations in material design, structural regulation, and interface engineering for precise capillary flow manipulation. We revisit fabrication techniques and key milestones in developing paper-based microfluidic devices, emphasizing innovative on-skin applications for wearable biofluid sampling, biosensing, and disease diagnostics. Finally, we outline persistent challenges that need to be addressed in the clinical translation of paper-based microfluidics for wearable healthcare and discuss future perspectives, including advances in paper materials engineering, integration with machine learning algorithms, and Internet-of-Things, to enable the next-generation personalized wearable healthcare solutions.

We provide a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art paper-based microfluidic devices for wearable soft bioelectronics, emphasizing innovative materials and device designs that enable on-skin biofluid sampling, biosensing, and disease diagnostics.

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