Materials, Devices and Systems of Soft Bioelectronics for Precision Therapy

The potential applications of soft bioelectronics in biomedical research and clinical trials have inspired a great deal of research interest in the past decade. While there has been significant amount of work in the fabrication and characterization of soft and stretchable sensors for monitoring of physical conditions and vital signs of human body, the development of soft bioelectronics based medical treatment and intervention systems has just begun. In addition to health monitoring, active treatments are essential for disease control in the healthcare domain, and medical therapy and surgery realized by sophisticated soft bioelectronic systems are better demonstrations of their utility in healthcare. In this Research News, we summarize recent key research achievements in soft bioelectronics enabled precision therapy, with emphasis on drug delivery, therapeutic and surgical mechanisms and tools enabled by integrated systems. Challenges in technology development and prospects for commercialization are also discussed.