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1. Advances in Wearable Biosensors for Non-Invasive Biofluid Monitoring

   https://doi.org/10.3390/bios16060336  

   Mondal, Rajib; Saikia, Manob Jyoti (June 2026, Biosensors)

   Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, neurological conditions, and kidney disease continue to rise worldwide. These conditions create a growing demand for continuous, non-invasive, and personalized health monitoring technologies. Wearable biosensors meet this need by enabling real-time physiological and biochemical measurements outside traditional clinical settings. Among wearable biosensors, those based on biofluids like sweat, tears, and saliva provide a painless alternative to blood sampling. These fluids also grant access to metabolites, electrolytes, hormones, proteins, and disease related biomarkers that reflect systemic health status. Advanced sensing technology allow us to continuously track health status by analyzing key biomarkers in these accessible biofluids. This review summarizes recent advances in non-invasive wearable biosensors and focuses on their sensing principles which includes biorecognition elements, signal transduction mechanisms, and data acquisition strategies. We also discussed key sensing modalities, including electrochemical, optical, thermal, and piezoelectric approaches, highlighting their advantages for wearable integration and performance in biofluid sensing. Finally the review also outlines recent developments and applications of these systems in biofluid sensing. In the end we highlights existing challenges, potential solutions, and future directions toward clinically deployable, AI-assisted precision healthcare systems. 

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2. Wireless microfluidics-enabled multifunctional miniature soft robots with multimodal locomotion for fluid manipulation

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.device.2025.100713  

   Xiao, Boyang; Lin, Honglu; Buckner, Emily; Pierce, Janene M; Tosoian, Jeffrey J; Dong, Xiaoguang (June 2025, Device)

   The integration of wireless microfluidics into untethered soft robots has the potential to transform biofluid sampling for diagnostics and enable on-demand delivery of bioagents to hard-to-reach areas. However, achieving this integration is challenging due to the lack of wirelessly controlled microfluidic modules and control strategies that can seamlessly coordinate with the robot’s locomotion. Here, we propose a fundamental wireless pumping and valving mechanism that allows millimeter-scale soft robots to perform fluidic functions such as liquid ejection and collection entirely through remote magnetic control. Coordinated actuation of flexible valves and robot body deformation enables precise control over fluidic operations and agile robot locomotion on biological tissue surfaces. Unique capabilities have been demonstrated, including on-demand liquid sampling and delivery for enhanced locomotion and medical procedures, all controlled by external magnetic fields. Our proposed robots offer advanced capabilities for targeted fluidic manipulation, paving the way for minimally invasive soft medical robotics. 

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3. Actuation-Coordinated Mobile Parallel Robots With Hybrid Mobile and Manipulation Functions

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4053821  

   Gan, Dongming; Fu, Jiaming; Lin, Han; Yang, Haoguang; Rastgaar, Mo; Min, Byung-Cheol; Voyles, Richard (August 2022, Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics)

   Abstract Mobile robots with manipulation capability are a key technology that enables flexible robotic interactions, large area covering and remote exploration. This paper presents a novel class of actuation-coordinated mobile parallel robots (ACMPRs) that utilize parallel mechanism configurations and perform hybrid moving and manipulation functions through coordinated wheel actuators. The ACMPRs differ with existing mobile manipulators by their unique combination of the mobile wheel actuators and the parallel mechanism topology through prismatic joint connections. Common motion of the wheels will provide mobile function while their relative motion will actuate the parallel manipulation function. This new concept reduces actuation requirement and increases manipulation accuracy and mobile motion stability through coordinated and connected wheel actuators comparing with existing mobile parallel manipulators. The relative wheel location on the base frame also enables a reconfigurable base size with variable moving stability on the ground. The basic concept and general type synthesis are introduced and followed by kinematics and inverse dynamics analysis of a selected three limb ACMPR. A numerical simulation also illustrates the dynamics model and the motion property of the new mobile parallel robot (MPR) followed by a prototype-based experimental validation. The work provides a basis for introducing this new class of robots for potential applications in surveillance, industrial automation, construction, transportation, human assistance, medical applications, and other operations in extreme environment such as nuclear plants, Mars, etc. 

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4. A programmable epidermal microfluidic valving system for wearable biofluid management and contextual biomarker analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18238-6  

   Lin, Haisong; Tan, Jiawei; Zhu, Jialun; Lin, Shuyu; Zhao, Yichao; Yu, Wenzhuo; Hojaiji, Hannaneh; Wang, Bo; Yang, Siyang; Cheng, Xuanbing; et al (December 2020, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Active biofluid management is central to the realization of wearable bioanalytical platforms that are poised to autonomously provide frequent, real-time, and accurate measures of biomarkers in epidermally-retrievable biofluids (e.g., sweat). Accordingly, here, a programmable epidermal microfluidic valving system is devised, which is capable of biofluid sampling, routing, and compartmentalization for biomarker analysis. At its core, the system is a network of individually-addressable microheater-controlled thermo-responsive hydrogel valves, augmented with a pressure regulation mechanism to accommodate pressure built-up, when interfacing sweat glands. The active biofluid control achieved by this system is harnessed to create unprecedented wearable bioanalytical capabilities at both the sensor level (decoupling the confounding influence of flow rate variability on sensor response) and the system level (facilitating context-based sensor selection/protection). Through integration with a wireless flexible printed circuit board and seamless bilateral communication with consumer electronics (e.g., smartwatch), contextually-relevant (scheduled/on-demand) on-body biomarker data acquisition/display was achieved. 

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5. Extensible High Force Manipulator For Complex Exploration

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RoboSoft48309.2020.9116024  

   Hughes, Josie; Santina, Cosmio Della; Rus, Daniela (May 2020, IEEE Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft))

   The development of compliant robotic manipulators which can show length change, compliance and dexterity could assist many challenging applications. Potential applications range from dexterous manipulation, robotic surgery or exploration of challenging environments. Despite significant developments in both fabrication and control approaches for continuum body manipulators, there have been few demonstrations of continuum body systems which display all these properties. We present a method for fabricating a continuum manipulation which shows extension, high force movements and a range of dexterous position. This approach uses 3D printing to create a flexible rack and pinion system. These high torque mechanisms are mounted at points along the 3D printed tracks to allow complex shape control of the continuum system. A controller has been also been developed based on a Piecewise Constant Curvature approximation to allow the position of the tip of the manipulator to be controlled, and motion paths to be followed. In this work, we show the force capabilities of this manipulator and demonstrate how multiple segments can be created for more complex movements. 

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