Wearable bioelectronics enabled by conductive hydrogels: From materials innovation to clinical translation

The rapid evolution of wearable bioelectronics is transforming healthcare toward continuous, non-invasive monitoring and personalized intervention. Central to this progress is the development of materials that integrate mechanical compliance, reliable signal transduction, and long-term biocompatibility. Conductive hydrogels have emerged as a promising platform, combining tissue-like mechanics with tunable ionic/electronic conductivity to enable stable and conformal biointerfaces. This Review examines how materials design and nanocomposite engineering govern charge transport, mechanical robustness, and dynamic responsiveness, and how these structure-property relationships translate into device performance. Representative applications span metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurological monitoring, as well as wound care, sleep analysis, and biomarker detection. We further identify key challenges for clinical translation, including long-term stability, multimodal integration, and data reliability, and outline future directions toward integrated, intelligent, and closed-loop bioelectronic systems.