Sensors and biosensors articles from across Nature Portfolio

Developing flexible coils for soft robotic applications is challenging due to their sparse structure. Here, the authors present a design of transformable 3D curved high-density liquid metal coils, surpassing the structural density level of enameled wire for soft actuation, sensing, and communication.

The mechanisms of the enhancement of stannum doping in achieving high piezoelectric performance in barium titanate-based ferroelectric ceramics remain elusive. Here, the authors introduce a single variable nonstoichiometric stannum strategy to reveal the intrinsic and extrinsic contributions for enhancing piezoelectricity after stannum doping.

A wireless monitoring system that integrates an organic electrochemical transistor and a near-infrared inorganic micro-light-emitting diode on a thin parylene substrate can be used to monitor biomarkers such as glucose, lactate and pH.

Flexible skins are desired for wind pressure measurement on curved surfaces. Here, the authors report a flexible skin using two iontronic pressure sensors for negative pressure and positive pressure sensing, respectively, and demonstrate its application to pressure measurements in room temperature wind tunnels.

A bilayer hydrogel sensor is presented for continuous monitoring of solid epidermal biomarkers on human skin.

Conductive organic fibres can be tethered to biological surfaces without impeding biological features.

An article in Nature Materials reports a new ultrasoft and conformal liquid bioelectronic material for injectable and retrievable biosensing.

Smart food packaging technologies can actualize real-time, in situ food quality monitoring, increasing food safety and decreasing food waste. Here, we detail challenges that hinder the commercialization of such smart packaging systems and identify opportunities to facilitate their translation from prototype to product.

Soft pressure sensors drift under prolonged high stress because of the creep of soft materials, which causes inaccurate measurements. Now, through molecular-level design, a leakage-free and creep-free polyelectrolyte elastomer is synthesized, and an iontronic sensor using the polyelectrolyte elastomer shows very low signal drift under a high static pressure.

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) lacks sufficient haptic feedback to the surgeon due to the length and flexibility of surgical tools. This haptic disconnect is exacerbated in robotic-MIS, which utilizes tele-operation to control surgical tools. Tactile sensation in MIS and robotic-MIS can be restored in a safe and conformable manner through soft sensors and soft haptic feedback devices.