Continuous imaging of cardiac functions is highly desirable for the assessment of long-term cardiovascular health, detection of acute cardiac dysfunction and clinical management of critically ill or surgical patients^1–4. However, conventional non-invasive approaches to image the cardiac function cannot provide continuous measurements owing to device bulkiness^5–11, and existing wearable cardiac devices can only capture signals on the skin^12–16. Here we report a wearable ultrasonic device for continuous, real-time and direct cardiac function assessment. We introduce innovations in device design and material fabrication that improve the mechanical coupling between the device and human skin, allowing the left ventricle to be examined from different views during motion. We also develop a deep learning model that automatically extracts the left ventricular volume from the continuous image recording, yielding waveforms of key cardiac performance indices such as stroke volume, cardiac output and ejection fraction. This technology enables dynamic wearable monitoring of cardiac performance with substantially improved accuracy in various environments.

An electrically-controlled soft tubular actuator is constructed for soft robotic applications.

An electrospun liquid crystal elastomer microfiber actuator can generate large actuation with high power density.

A 3D printing strategy to fabricate functionally graded liquid crystal elastomer is developed.