Materials, devices, and applications for wearable and implantable electronics

Recent advances in the engineering or strategy of materials and device design have established ultrathin, soft, lightweight, and skin-conformable characteristics in wearable/implantable electronic systems, allowing precise, long-term monitoring of biological signals from skin/internal organs while reducing signal artifacts upon daily body motions or other external effects. Such a soft, flexible platform offers an opportunity capable of recording and analyzing diverse physical, chemical, and electrophysiological parameters for clinically useful information in the effective prevention, treatment, and management of illness as well as the preservation of physical and mental well-being. Combination with other peculiar functions such as bioresorbable and self-healing properties can enhance the biosafety/ reliability of devices and realize unprecedented applications in the fields of biology and medicine or other areas of interest. This Review summarizes the underlying mechanisms of materials science in terms of a mechanical balance between devices and biological structures, discusses the latest biomedical applications with a focus on technological advances and significance, and concludes with an overview of current challenging points and perspectives for future research directions in wearable/implantable electronics.