Using twin organic transistors, the device cancels out environmental noise, marking a major step toward truly reliable, next-gen wearable health tech.
In a leap for wearable health tech, Stanford University researchers have unveiled skin-inspired organic biosensors that can track health-related signals in real time — without distortion from motion, temperature, or moisture. Published in Nature Electronics, the study introduces a drift-free design using twin organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), marking a major advance for next-generation wearable health monitoring.
Unlike current fitness trackers and biosensors that often falter under sweat, bending, or heat, these new OFET-based sensors remain remarkably stable.
The innovation lies in pairing two identical stretchable OFETs side by side. Each “twin” transistor shares the same materials and dimensions, ensuring they respond similarly to external disturbances. Through a diode connection, they performed a subtraction that cancels shared drifts, only the true biomarker signal remains.
Tests showed that the biosensor suppressed signal distortion by more than 100 times, even under 100% strain, 50 mN compression, and temperature swings from 25°C to 40°C. When applied to on-body tests, the device accurately measured biomarkers like cortisol, glucose, and sodium from sweat — with the cortisol readings offering potential for stress and mental health monitoring.
Researchers also integrated the sensor with a flexible circuit and smartphone app, demonstrating real-time data tracking. For the first time, transistor-based biosensors achieved immunity to environmental drift, opening doors for reliable, continuous health monitoring in daily life.The team is now exploring next steps, including integrating amplifiers and wireless modules into fully soft “electronic skin” systems. Such advancements could lead to wearable platforms that track multiple biomarkers simultaneously — transforming personalized health care from reactive to proactive.
“Our skin-inspired organic bioelectronic devices can seamlessly interface with the human body, current soft biosensors suffer from bending, stretching, and temperature changes — our goal was to eliminate those drifts and this is the first transistor biosensor immune to environmental variations, it’s a step closer to truly intelligent, skin-like electronics.” said Professor Zhenan Bao, who led the research.
