Recent advances in electrospun fibers-based flexible pressure sensors for next-gen healthcare applications: a review

This review thoroughly evaluates the advancements and applications of electrospun functional fiber-based pressure sensors in healthcare diagnostics. Electrospinning is a versatile technique for producing micro- and nanoscale fibers with high surface-to-volume ratios and tunable porosity, making it an excellent platform for highly sensitive, flexible, and wearable sensing structures. This review survey focuses on integrating piezoelectric and piezoresistive materials into electrospun fiber mats. These materials are key to transduction mechanisms, converting mechanical pressure stimuli into electrical signals by varying charge or resistance. The study critically evaluates numerous key healthcare applications based on pressure, including wearable vital sign monitors (pulse and respiration), body motion detection for rehabilitation, gait analysis, smart prosthetics, and real-time wound healing assessment through pressure distribution mapping. Fiber-based sensors offer high sensitivity, lower detection limits, flexibility, biocompatibility, breathability, and adoptablity to complex body contours. This study reveals that the multilayer sensor’s sensitivity (996.7 kPa^-¹) is far greater than the composite sensor’s (0.2082 kPa^-¹), enabling precise detection of pulse and joint movements. Several limitations have also been addressed, including signal stability and durability, ecological interference (including humidity and temperature), scalable manufacturing, and seamless integration with electronics for continuous monitoring. This study provides future research directions for developing novel, multifunctional, and self-powered materials, enhancing environmental resilience, scalable fabrication, and wireless data transmission. Finally, the study concludes that electrospinning fiber sensors are poised to transform personalized, non-invasive, and continuous health monitoring, advancing next-generation, innovative healthcare systems.