Wearable sensors track body signals in real time, enabling disease detection, monitoring, and use across clinics, remote care, and defence.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur are developing semiconductor devices for health monitoring, disease detection and physiological assessment. The research focuses on semiconductor devices that can monitor physiological and biochemical signals from the human body in real time. These wearable sensors track heart rate, muscle activity, body temperature and skin pressure for long use.
The work addresses limited access to continuous health monitoring, which leads to late detection of health conditions. The goal is to develop semiconductor devices that can monitor body signals and support early detection and intervention.
A key part of this research is the Organic Electrochemical Transistor, a semiconductor device suited for interfacing with biological signals and fluids. OECT-based platforms enable electrical and biochemical sensing in flexible formats. The team is developing wearable sensors using semiconductor materials on thin substrates for non-invasive monitoring.
The team is exploring whether a single semiconductor platform can capture both electrical activity and biochemical markers linked to disease. Using OECT technology, they are building devices to monitor heart activity, muscle response and disease-related biomarkers.
One application area is early disease screening, with sensors designed to detect biomarkers in saliva, serum and blood. These systems could support point-of-care diagnostics in dental clinics, rural health camps and mobile healthcare units.
The team is also developing wearable sensors for physical monitoring, including ECG patches for cardiac assessment, EMG sensors for muscle tracking, and pressure and temperature sensors to detect early signs of pressure ulcers.
The technology can also be used in defence and extreme environments. Sensors can be integrated into uniforms or wearable patches to monitor cardiac load, dehydration, fatigue, heat stress and muscle strain during operations. This can support monitoring, improve decision-making and reduce stress-related risks.
The work aims to translate semiconductor research into systems for continuous and accessible health monitoring, with applications in civilian and defence settings.
