Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces

Recent advances in manufacturing of flexible and conformable microelectronics have opened opportunities for health monitoring and disease treatment. Other material engineering advances, such as the development of conductive, skin-like hydrogels, liquid metals, electric textiles, and piezoelectric fi...

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Main Author: William J. Tyler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Electronics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/felec.2025.1503425/full
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author William J. Tyler
author_facet William J. Tyler
author_sort William J. Tyler
collection DOAJ
description Recent advances in manufacturing of flexible and conformable microelectronics have opened opportunities for health monitoring and disease treatment. Other material engineering advances, such as the development of conductive, skin-like hydrogels, liquid metals, electric textiles, and piezoelectric films provide safe and comfortable means of interfacing with the human body. Together, these advances have enabled the design and engineering of bioelectronic devices with integrated multimodal sensing and stimulation capabilities to be worn nearly anywhere on the body. Of particular interest here, the external ear (auricle) offers a unique opportunity to design scalable bioelectronic devices with a high degree of usability and familiarity given the broad use of headphones. This review article discusses recent design and engineering advances in the development of auricular bioelectronic devices capable of physiological and biochemical sensing, cognitive monitoring, targeted neuromodulation, and control for human-computer interactions. Stemming from this scalable foundation, there will be increased growth and competition in research and engineering to advance auricular bioelectronics. This activity will lead to increased adoption of these smart headphone-style devices by patients and consumers for tracking health, treating medical conditions, and enhancing human-computer interactions.
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spelling doaj-art-dcc0ab8502df4febb0383bdc2836b73a2025-02-06T07:09:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Electronics2673-58572025-02-01610.3389/felec.2025.15034251503425Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfacesWilliam J. TylerRecent advances in manufacturing of flexible and conformable microelectronics have opened opportunities for health monitoring and disease treatment. Other material engineering advances, such as the development of conductive, skin-like hydrogels, liquid metals, electric textiles, and piezoelectric films provide safe and comfortable means of interfacing with the human body. Together, these advances have enabled the design and engineering of bioelectronic devices with integrated multimodal sensing and stimulation capabilities to be worn nearly anywhere on the body. Of particular interest here, the external ear (auricle) offers a unique opportunity to design scalable bioelectronic devices with a high degree of usability and familiarity given the broad use of headphones. This review article discusses recent design and engineering advances in the development of auricular bioelectronic devices capable of physiological and biochemical sensing, cognitive monitoring, targeted neuromodulation, and control for human-computer interactions. Stemming from this scalable foundation, there will be increased growth and competition in research and engineering to advance auricular bioelectronics. This activity will lead to increased adoption of these smart headphone-style devices by patients and consumers for tracking health, treating medical conditions, and enhancing human-computer interactions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/felec.2025.1503425/fullbioelectronicsflexible electronicshuman interfaceneuromodulationsensors
spellingShingle William J. Tyler
Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
Frontiers in Electronics
bioelectronics
flexible electronics
human interface
neuromodulation
sensors
title Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
title_full Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
title_fullStr Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
title_full_unstemmed Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
title_short Auricular bioelectronic devices for health, medicine, and human-computer interfaces
title_sort auricular bioelectronic devices for health medicine and human computer interfaces
topic bioelectronics
flexible electronics
human interface
neuromodulation
sensors
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/felec.2025.1503425/full
work_keys_str_mv AT williamjtyler auricularbioelectronicdevicesforhealthmedicineandhumancomputerinterfaces