Wearable bioelectronic masks for wireless detection of respiratory infectious diseases by gaseous media

Respiratory infectious diseases (H1N1, H5N1, COVID-19, etc.) are pandemics that can continually spread in the air through micro -drop-lets or aerosols. However, the detection of samples in gaseous media is hampered by the requirement for trace amounts and low concen-trations. Here, we develop a wearable bioelectronic mask device in-tegrated with ion-gated transistors. Based on the sensitive gating ef-fect of ion gels, our aptamer-functionalized transistors can measure trace-level liquid samples (0.3 mL) and even gaseous media samples at an ultra-low concentration (0.1 fg/mL). The ion-gated transistor with multi-channel analysis can respond to multiple targets simulta-neously within as fast as 10 min, especially without sample pretreat-ment. Integrating a wireless internet of things system enables the wearable mask to achieve real-time and on-site detection of the sur-rounding air, providing an alert before infection. The wearable bio-electronic masks hold promise to serve as an early warning system to prevent outbreaks of respiratory infectious diseases.

Automated summary

A wearable bioelectronic mask device integrated with ion-gated transistors is developed for sensitive detection of trace-level liquid samples and ultra-low concentration gaseous media. The mask is capable of real-time and on-site detection of surrounding air, serving as an early warning system to prevent outbreaks of respiratory infectious diseases.