Biodegradable Sensors for Healthcare: Materials and Technologies

The escalating need for transient monitoring solutions within the body is driving significant advancements in bioresorbable electronics. Traditional diagnostic and monitoring methods are frequently costly, invasive, and time consuming. Conventional implantable sensors present further challenges due to their long‐term presence. This can lead to complications and necessitate a second surgery for removal. Such removal ameliorates costs and patient distress and risks injury to the brain. These sensors can also act as a nidus for infection or immune‐mediated inflammatory responses. The use of nonbiodegradable materials in these devices confers mainly to electronic waste and accelerates environmental pollution. Biodegradable sensors offer a compelling and key alternative. They are explicitly constructed to dissolve harmlessly in biofluids at well‐defined programmable rates to biologically benign end products. This innovation ends the need for secondary surgical extraction, reduces the risk of infection, and alleviates environmental problems associated with electronic waste. This review gives a comprehensive overview of the current state of biodegradable sensors in biomedical applications. It emphasizes biomimetic composites, advanced materials such as polymers, metals, and novel substances, and distinct sensor designs including pressure, strain, electrochemical, optical, and temperature sensing. It also highlights key in vivo applications such as intracranial, cardiovascular, and general health monitoring. These devices fulfill the major clinical requirement for minimally invasive, temporary, and environmentally sustainable physiological monitoring.