Abstract
Continuous monitoring of arterial blood pressure (BP) outside of a clinical setting is crucial for preventing and diagnosing hypertension related diseases. However, current continuous BP ...monitoring instruments suffer from either bulky systems or poor user-device interfacial performance, hampering their applications in continuous BP monitoring. Here, we report a thin, soft, miniaturized system (TSMS) that combines a conformal piezoelectric sensor array, an active pressure adaptation unit, a signal processing module, and an advanced machine learning method, to allow real wearable, continuous wireless monitoring of ambulatory artery BP. By optimizing the materials selection, control/sampling strategy, and system integration, the TSMS exhibits improved interfacial performance while maintaining Grade A level measurement accuracy. Initial trials on 87 volunteers and clinical tracking of two hypertension individuals prove the capability of the TSMS as a reliable BP measurement product, and its feasibility and practical usability in precise BP control and personalized diagnosis schemes development.
Conventional electroporation approaches show limitations in the delivery of macromolecules in vitro and in vivo. These limitations include low efficiency, noticeable cell damage and nonuniform ...delivery of cells. Here, we present a simple 3D electroporation platform that enables massively parallel single-cell manipulation and the intracellular delivery of macromolecules and small molecules. A pyramid pit micropore array chip was fabricated based on a silicon wet-etching method. A controllable vacuum system was adopted to trap a single cell on each micropore. Using this chip, safe single-cell electroporation was performed at low voltage. Cargoes of various sizes ranging from oligonucleotides (molecular beacons, 22 bp) to plasmid DNA (CRISPR-Cas9 expression vectors, >9 kb) were delivered into targeted cells with a significantly higher transfection efficiency than that of multiple benchmark methods (e.g., commercial electroporation devices and Lipofectamine). The delivered dose of the chemotherapeutic drug could be controlled by adjusting the applied voltage. By using CRISPR-Cas9 transfection with this system, the p62 gene and CXCR7 gene were knocked out in tumor cells, which effectively inhibited their cellular activity. Overall, this vacuum-assisted micropore array platform provides a simple, efficient, high-throughput intracellular delivery method that may facilitate on-chip cell manipulation, intracellular investigation and cancer therapy.3D Electroporation: Uniform and safe electricity-based drug deliveryApplying an electric field to individually trapped cells allows for the efficient and safe delivery of drugs or genes, and the characterization and manipulation of cellular activity. Electroporation is a technique that increases the permeability of a cell’s membrane, to allow the infiltration of drugs or genes. In practice, traditional electroporation has issues with efficiency and cellular damage. The scientists of Lingqian Chang (Beihang University) and Mo Li (Peking University Third Hospital) led a team to develop an on-chip “3D” system that uses a vacuum to trap cells in individual micropores. By applying an electric field, the team were able to deliver cargo of different sizes, from drugs to genes, into the cells with greater efficiency and safety than benchmark methods. The dose of chemotherapy drugs was controlled through altering the voltage applied. The team were able to inhibit tumor activity by delivering CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing plasmid with their system. This “3D” system was showed the potential for on-chip manipulation, in situ intracellular interrogation and cancer therapy.
Wearable sweat sensors are gaining significant attention due to their unparalleled potential for noninvasive health monitoring. Sweat, as a kind of body fluid, contains informative physiological ...indicators that are related to personalized health status. Advances in wearable sweat sampling and routing technologies, flexible, and stretchable materials, and wireless digital technologies have led to the development of integrated sweat sensors that are comfortable, flexible, light, and intelligent. Herein, we report a flexible and integrated wearable device via incorporating a microfluidic system and a sensing chip with skin-integrated electronic format toward in-situ monitoring of uric acid (UA) in sweat that associates with gout, cardiovascular, and renal diseases. The microfluidic system validly realizes the real-time capture perspiration from human skin. The obtained detection range is 5-200 μM and the detection limit is 1.79 μM, which offers an importance diagnostic method for clinical relevant lab test. The soft and flexible features of the constructed device allows it to be mounted onto nearly anywhere on the body. We tested the sweat UA in diverse subjects and various body locations during exercise, and similar trends were also observed by using a commercial UA assay kit.
CD97 is a member of the epidermal growth factor-seven transmembrane family. It affects tumor aggressiveness by binding its cellular ligand CD55 and exhibits adhesive properties. Previous studies have ...shown that CD97 and CD55 are involved in the dedifferentiation, migration, invasiveness and metastasis of tumors. However, little is known regarding the roles of CD97 and CD55 in pancreatic cancer. In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to analyze CD97 and CD55 protein expression in samples obtained from 37 pancreatic cancer patients. CD97 and CD55 were absent or only weakly expressed in the normal pancreatic tissues but strongly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues (P<0.05), particularly in tissues with lymph node involvement, metastasis or vascular invasion (P<0.05). Notably, CD97 and CD55 were expressed consistently in pancreatic cancer tissues (r2=0.5422; P<0.05). In addition, CD97 and CD55 expression levels were found to significantly correlate with tumor aggressiveness (P<0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed that CD97 and CD55 expression levels were closely associated with prognosis (P<0.05). Taken together, these results indicated that CD97 and its ligand CD55 are upregulated in pancreatic cancers and are closely associated with lymph node involvement, metastasis and vascular invasion. Thus, analysis of both CD97 and CD55 expression may present potential prognostic value for pancreatic cancer.
Hemodynamic status has been perceived as an important diagnostic value as fundamental physiological health conditions, including decisive signs of fatal diseases like arteriosclerosis, can be ...diagnosed by monitoring it. Currently, the conventional hemodynamic monitoring methods highly rely on imaging techniques requiring inconveniently large numbers of operation procedures and equipment for mapping and with a high risk of radiation exposure. Herein, an ultra-thin, noninvasive, and flexible electronic skin (e-skin) hemodynamic monitoring system based on the thermal properties of blood vessels underneath the epidermis that can be portably attached to the skin for operation is introduced. Through a series of thermal sensors, the temperatures of each subsection of the arrayed sensors are observed in real-time, and the measurements are transmitted and displayed on the screen of an external device wirelessly through a Bluetooth module using a graphical user interface (GUI). The degrees of the thermal property of subsections are indicated with a spectrum of colors that specify the hemodynamic status of the target vessel. In addition, as the sensors are installed on a soft substrate, they can operate under twisting and bending without any malfunction. These characteristics of e-skin sensors exhibit great potential in wearable and portable diagnostics including point-of-care (POC) devices.
Abstract
Thin and flexible skin electronics have attracted great attention for their applications in monitoring human health status continuously and intelligently. However, the versatility of these ...electronics is impeded by the performance of power supply and sensor modules, and their portability is also restricted by the need for external devices to handle data processing and analysis. Here, this work presents a wearable electronics system with health status sensing and visualization system (HSSVS), where the power is supplied by sweat‐activated batteries (SABs). The reported system enables the detection of crucial human physiological information, such as the Na
+
concentration and the pH level in sweat, as well as skin temperature. The electrodes of the sensors and the batteries are fabricated by the laser ablation method. The laser‐induced polyimide (PI)/gelatin‐based graphene (LIGA) based sensors show a wide linear range for the sensing markers with high sensitivity, and high selectivity. The SABs based on laser‐induced PI/gelatin based graphene anchored with manganese dioxide (LIGA@MnO
2
) can support the entire sensing and visualization system with ultrathin, excellent biocompatibility, and mechanical properties. Additionally, incorporating a visualization design such as color changes in LEDs enables users to easily identify variations in health status. This integrated system demonstrates promising potential in smart sensing devices for health management.
Flexible and wearable electronics have presented a wide range of advantages to non-invasive real-time human health monitoring. However, its remarkable energy consumption during continuous and ...long-time operation brings essential, practical challenges, which lead to growing recognition of exploring new and efficient energy strategies for wearables. Here, inspired by human joints as a biomechanical energy source that shows an ideal option for sustainable powers, we design a battery-free sweat sensing system integrated with sweat resistant self-sustainable energy supply and wireless communication interface, where piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) efficiently converting biomechanical energy from freely movable joints (finger, cubital fossa and popliteal space) into electricity serving as the self-powering module. Physiological relevant parameters in sweat, including Na+ , K+ and pH, are sensed and wirelessly transmitted to the user interface via Bluetooth communication. This system shows a paradigm of wearable electronics driven by human joints that demonstrated efficient self-sustainable energy supply and multiplexed physiological detection.
Inspired by human joints as a biomechanical energy source, we designed a battery-free sweat sensing system integrated with self-sustainable energy supply and wireless communication interface. PENG converts biomechanical energy from freely movable joints into electricity. Na+, K+ and pH in sweat are detected and wirelessly transmitted to the user interface via Bluetooth communication. Display omitted
•PENG can efficiently convert joint movements into electricity.•Na+, K+ and pH of sweat can be detected by a flexible sensor patch.•Finger, arm and leg are preferred joint candidates for energy harvesting.•Biomechanical energy of human joints can power flexible electronic device.
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•MF@MoS2 sponges with superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity were reported.•The superhydrophobic MF@MoS2 sponge performs excellent absorption capacity for different organic ...solvents.•The superhydrophilic MF@MoS2 sponge shows high discoloration efficiency for water-soluble dye.•A continuous removal of insoluble oils and soluble dyes in situ from water was achieved by MF@MoS2 sponges.
Removal of pollutants from water is an important global challenge for energy conservation and environmental protection. Advanced macro-porous sorbent materials with three-dimensional wettability surfaces have been considered traditional candidates for wastewater treatment. Although the real water environment always co-exists with two pollution sources, the major functions of existing macro-porous materials are limited to either water-insoluble organics separation or water-soluble dyes removal. Bifunctional macro-porous materials for simultaneous oil–water separation and soluble elements removal are currently lacking. Here we report the novel MoS2-coated melamine-formaldehyde (MF@MoS2) sponges with different wettabilities, for example, superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity, exhibiting both high selectivity and excellent absorption capacities for a wide range of oils/organic solvents with different densities and water-soluble dyes. The functional MF@MoS2 sponges perform high absorption capacity for different organic solvents up to 66 and 157 times of its own weight respectively, while showing high discoloration efficiency of 98% methyl orange within 10min. For the first time, we report these functional macro-porous materials used for simultaneous cleaning of oil and soluble pollutants in water, which extended the potential of MoS2 for environmental application. Furthermore, a continuous and simultaneous removal of insoluble oils and soluble dyes in situ from water was achieved by simply applying external pumping on the functional macro-porous MF@MoS2 sponges.
Wearable sweat sensors can detect and monitor various substances in sweat, providing valuable information for healthcare monitoring and clinical diagnostics. Recent advances in flexible electronic ...technologies have enabled the development of wearable sweat sensors that can measure sweat rate and biochemical substances in real time, although several challenges remain, such as power management and sweat extraction issues. Here, a passive sweat extraction strategy as well as a self‐powered monitoring system (SEMS) is reported to be designed for sedentary individuals, i.e., elders. The SEMS system comprises a wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for sweat extraction, a sweat‐activated battery (SAB) as the integrated power source, carbachol‐loaded iontophoresis electrodes for sweat extraction, microfluidics with biosensors for detecting physiological information in sweat, and near field communication (NFC)‐based wireless microelectronics for data communication, processing, and collection. By tapping the TENG, sedentary people can passively extract sweat based on the iontophoresis process, allowing the sensors to detect biological information in sweat. The good flexibility of the SEMS device enables real‐time and non‐invasive detection of sweat analytes in a wearable format. This system offers a new strategy of sweat collection and analysis for the elderly group, and therefore can help to understand human physiology and personalize health monitoring deeply.
A passive sweat extraction strategy and self‐powered monitoring system (SEMS) are developed for sedentary individuals, particularly elders. It includes a wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for sweat extraction, a sweat‐activated battery (SAB) as the power source, iontophoresis electrodes with carbachol for sweat extraction, microfluidics with biosensors for detecting physiological information in sweat, and near field communication (NFC)‐based wireless microelectronics for data processing, and collection.
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