Advanced Wearable Biosensors for Real-Time Health Monitoring: From Functional Materials to Intelligent Clinical Applications

Abstract

Wearable biosensors (WBSs) are transforming health monitoring by enabling continuous, non-invasive assessment of physiological and biochemical parameters outside conventional clinical settings. This chapter presents the fundamental principles of wearable biosensing and examines recent advances in biorecognition strategies, sensing architectures, and functional materials that support reliable real-time monitoring. Attention is given to hydrogels, nanomaterials, and conductive polymers because of their roles in flexibility, biocompatibility, sensitivity, and signal transduction. The chapter discusses the detection of clinically relevant biomarkers and physiological signals, while highlighting key challenges associated with signal fidelity, including environmental interference, sensor drift, biofouling, and motion-induced artifacts. Approaches for improving signal quality through optimized materials, device design, signal-processing strategies, and data interpretation are also considered. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is explored as an important pathway toward intelligent, connected, and personalized health monitoring. The chapter concludes by addressing major challenges involved in translating wearable biosensor technologies from laboratory prototypes to clinically meaningful applications, including analytical reliability, scalability, interoperability, data security, and clinical validation. Collectively, these advances position WBSs as promising tools for personalized and remote healthcare, with potential to complement conventional diagnostic approaches and support earlier, data-driven health interventions and longitudinal monitoring across diverse patient populations and real-world conditions.