Yue Sun, Guo Tian, Weili Deng, Weiqing Yang
The increasing emphasis on personal healthcare highlights the importance of advanced monitoring systems. Ionic hydrogels have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation health monitoring devices due to their composition and mechanical similarity to biological tissues. This review comprehensively elucidates the current advancements in ionic hydrogels, including material sources, conductive mechanisms, fabrication strategies, and key characteristics. Subsequently, state-of-the-art healthcare-related sensing technologies based on ionic hydrogels are discussed, covering sensing mechanisms, optimization strategies, and representative applications in monitoring physiological forces, electrophysiological signals, biochemical markers, and other vital indicators. Finally, the current challenges hindering the transition of ionic hydrogels from concepts to practical applications are critically analyzed, along with prospective research avenues to guide the development of practical ionic hydrogel-based healthcare solutions.