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The increasing demand for minimal to noninvasive in situ analysis of body fluids, such as sweat, interstitial fluid, and tears, has driven rapid development of electrochemically active materials and wearable biosensors. The mechanically soft and deformable nature of these biosensors enables them to efficiently adapt to the geometric nonlinearity of a specific part of the human body. The integration of these biosensors with a fully miniaturized wireless telemetry system enables displaying real-time data in a mobile device and/or reporting to an encrypted server for post analysis. These features are essential for the long-term, unobtrusive monitoring of biochemical activity in ambulatory care settings for improved management of many chronic diseases, such as diabetes, gout, and Parkinson’s disease. Herein, we present the latest innovations of wearable electrochemical sensors tailored for human skin or eyes with a focus on their materials, designs, sensing mechanisms, and clinical implications.

Electroretinogram examinations serve as routine clinical procedures in ophthalmology for the diagnosis and management of many ocular diseases. However, the rigid form factor of current corneal sensors produces a mismatch with the soft, curvilinear, and exceptionally sensitive human cornea, which typically requires the use of topical anesthesia and a speculum for pain management and safety. Here we report a design of an all-printed stretchable corneal sensor built on commercially-available disposable soft contact lenses that can intimately and non-invasively interface with the corneal surface of human eyes. The corneal sensor is integrated with soft contact lenses via an electrochemical anchoring mechanism in a seamless manner that ensures its mechanical and chemical reliability. Thus, the resulting device enables the high-fidelity recording of full-field electroretinogram signals in human eyes without the need of topical anesthesia or a speculum. The device, superior to clinical standards in terms of signal quality and comfortability, is expected to address unmet clinical needs in the field of ocular electrodiagnosis.