Monitoring blood pressure through a single hybrid hemodynamic signal with a flexible optoelectronic patch

by Yizhou Zhong, Yongcao Zhang, Jing Pu, Shofarul Wustoni, Johana Uribe, Naroa Lopez-Larrea, Adam Marks, Iain McCulloch, David Mecerreyes, Derya Baran, Sahika Inal
Year: 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.device.2025.100778

Abstract

Hemodynamics, the study of blood flow and circulatory forces, is fundamental for assessing cardiovascular health, disease states, and therapeutic outcomes. Here, we introduce a skin-conformable organic optoelectronic thin-film patch (ePatch) designed to simultaneously capture electrocardiography (ECG) and photoplethysmography (PPG) signals as a single hybrid signal, named the electrocardio-photoplethysmogram (EC-PPG). The ePatch integrates an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT), an organic photodiode, surface-mounted light-emitting diodes, and electrochemical electrodes on a flexible, skin-conforming substrate. By training deep learning models on the hybrid EC-PPG data, we achieved accurate arterial blood pressure estimations, with mean errors of just 1.69 mmHg for systolic and 0.89 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure, outperforming traditional predictions that rely on individual physiological signals as inputs. Our findings underscore the potential of EC-PPG as a compound hemodynamic signal for AI-driven vital sign monitoring and integrated, solution-processable soft electronics for clinical and point-of-care applications.

Keywords

Organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) Wearable Electronics Electrophysiology