Skin-interfaced wireless biosensors for perinatal and paediatric health

Continuous monitoring of the parameters that define physiological health status is an essential aspect of modern care for critically ill patients, particularly for vulnerable populations. Current hospital-grade systems for such purposes involve sensors taped to the skin, with hard-wired connections to large, expensive data-acquisition and display systems. Soft, wireless, skin-interfaced alternatives reduce associated burdens on the patients, simplify operations in clinical care, minimize risks of adhesive-induced skin injuries and reduce the costs of monitoring, as recently demonstrated in devices designed for maternal, foetal and paediatric health. The implications extend beyond hospital and home settings in well resourced areas of the globe to remote clinics in low and middle-income countries. This Review summarizes the latest progress in this research area, with an emphasis on the growing range of options in device configurations and form factors, sensor modalities and operational features. Examples of technologies capable of monitoring all key vital signs as well as various unconventional metrics of health status highlight the transition from academic prototypes to manufactured systems and scaled deployments. Skin-interfaced wireless biosensors offer great opportunities for inexpensive, burdenless and continuous health monitoring of perinatal and paediatric patients in clinical and home settings. This Review highlights the latest technology developments and deployment activity in this rapidly expanding field.