# 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.

## Key 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.