Recently, graphene has been extensively researched in fundamental science and engineering fields and has been developed for various electronic applications in emerging technologies owing to its outstanding material properties, including superior electronic, thermal, optical and mechanical properties. Thus, graphene has enabled substantial progress in the development of the current electronic systems. Here, we introduce the most important electronic and thermal properties of graphene, including its high conductivity, quantum Hall effect, Dirac fermions, high Seebeck coefficient and thermoelectric effects. We also present up-to-date graphene-based applications: optical devices, electronic and thermal sensors, and energy management systems. These applications pave the way for advanced biomedical engineering, reliable human therapy, and environmental protection. In this review, we show that the development of graphene suggests substantial improvements in current electronic technologies and applications in healthcare systems.

Recent progress in the synthesis and deterministic assembly of advanced classes of single crystalline inorganic semiconductor nanomaterial establishes a foundation for high-performance electronics on bendable, and even elastomeric, substrates. The results allow for classes of systems with capabilities that cannot be reproduced using conventional wafer-based technologies. Specifically, electronic devices that rely on the unusual shapes/forms/constructs of such semiconductors can offer mechanical properties, such as flexibility and stretchability, traditionally believed to be accessible only via comparatively low-performance organic materials, with superior operational features due to their excellent charge transport characteristics. Specifically, these approaches allow integration of high-performance electronic functionality onto various curvilinear shapes, with linear elastic mechanical responses to large strain deformations, of particular relevance in bio-integrated devices and bio-inspired designs. This review summarizes some recent progress in flexible electronics based on inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials, the key associated design strategies and examples of device components and modules with utility in biomedicine.

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) allows patients with diabetes to manage critical disease effectively and autonomously and prevent exacerbation. A painless, wireless, compact, and minimally invasive device that can provide CGM is essential for monitoring the health conditions of freely moving patients with diabetes. Here, we propose a glucose-responsive fluorescence-based highly sensitive biodegradable microneedle CGM system. These ultrathin and ultralight microneedle sensor arrays continuously and precisely monitored glucose concentration in the interstitial fluid with minimally invasive, pain-free, wound-free, and skin inflammation–free outcomes at various locations and thicknesses of the skin. Bioresorbability in the body without a need for device removal after use was a key characteristic of the microneedle glucose sensor. We demonstrated the potential long-term use of the bioresorbable device by applying the tether-free CGM system, thus confirming the successful detection of glucose levels based on changes in fluorescence intensity. In addition, this microneedle glucose sensor with a user-friendly designed home diagnosis system using mobile applications and portable accessories offers an advance in CGM and its applicability to other bioresorbable, wearable, and implantable monitoring device technology.

Recently, bioelectronic devices extensively researched and developed through the convergence of flexible biocompatible materials and electronics design that enables more precise diagnostics and therapeutics in human health care and opens up the potential to expand into various fields, such as clinical medicine and biomedical research. To establish an accurate and stable bidirectional bio‐interface, protection against the external environment and high mechanical deformation is essential for wearable bioelectronic devices. In the case of implantable bioelectronics, special encapsulation materials and optimized mechanical designs and configurations that provide electronic stability and functionality are required for accommodating various organ properties, lifespans, and functions in the biofluid environment. Here, this study introduces recent developments of ultra‐thin encapsulations with novel materials that can preserve or even improve the electrical performance of wearable and implantable bio‐integrated electronics by supporting safety and stability for protection from destruction and contamination as well as optimizing the use of bioelectronic systems in physiological environments. In addition, a summary of the materials, methods, and characteristics of the most widely used encapsulation technologies is introduced, thereby providing a strategic selection of appropriate choices of recently developed flexible bioelectronics.

Monitoring the body temperature with high accuracy provides a fast, facile, yet powerful route about the human body in a wide range of health information standards. Here, the first ever ultrasensitive and stretchable gold‐doped silicon nanomembrane (Au‐doped SiNM) epidermal temperature sensor array is introduced. The ultrasensitivity is achieved by shifting freeze‐out region to intrinsic region in carrier density and modulation of fermi energy level of p‐type SiNM through the development of a novel gold‐doping strategy. The Au‐doped SiNM is readily transferred onto an ultrathin polymer layer with a well‐designed serpentine mesh structure, capable of being utilized as an epidermal temperature sensor array. Measurements in vivo and in vitro show temperature coefficient of resistance as high as −37270.72 ppm °C⁻¹, 22 times higher than existing metal‐based temperature sensors with similar structures, and one of the highest thermal sensitivity among the inorganic material based temperature sensors. Applications in the continuous monitoring of body temperature and respiration rate during exercising are demonstrated with a successful capture of information. This work lays a foundation for monitoring body temperature, potentially useful for precision diagnosis (e.g., continuous monitoring body temperature in coronavirus disease 2019 cases) and management of disease relevance to body temperature in healthcare.