Soft optical sensor offers new way to map the heart and brain

by Cecilia Duong, University of New South Wales

edited by Swati Mestri, reviewed by Robert Egan

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For people living with cardiac or neurological conditions, monitoring organ activity is an important part of diagnosis and treatment. But existing technology relies heavily on electrically based systems that often require a network of electrodes to be attached directly to the organ site.

Now, a team from UNSW School of Biomedical Engineering has developed a fully flexible "optrode"—an optical sensor that converts the body's electrical signals directly into light signals. Designed to mimic the softness of human tissue, the device demonstrated a 98.4% viability rate, paving the way for safer and less invasive long-term monitoring technologies.

The research team, which published its latest findings in npj Flexible Electronics, says the new sensor, which has only been tested on animals so far, could transform how the human body is mapped by delivering clearer and more precise insights into electrical activity.

"Bioelectronic implants are devices that can be placed in the body to monitor electrical signals from organs like the heart and brain. They help doctors track changes and patterns in a person's health over the short and long term," says first author Dr. Reem Almasri from UNSW School of Biomedical Engineering.

"They're usually made of rigid materials like silicon and metal, and because our internal organs are soft and constantly moving, this mechanical mismatch often leads to tissue damage, scarring and even the body 'rejecting' the implant.

"They also rely on metal wires that can break when bent or pick up a lot of electrical 'noise' from the environment, compromising data quality.

"Our new sensor overcomes these challenges and marks a major leap forward in the next generation of implantable bioelectronics."

New material, new design

The researchers replaced rigid, brittle components with soft, high-performance polymers, materials engineered to safely interact with the body. This includes a specialized conductive polymer that stays functional even after being bent 10,000 times.

Sandwiched in the middle is a layer of highly sensitive liquid crystals that can detect amplitudes, or the magnitude of a signal, at submillivolt levels—similar to those produced by the brain and heart.

"We engineered this system so that the crystals orient their angle depending on the amplitude of the applied signal—for example, a brain signal," Almasri says.

"Using light signals, it measures the percentage change and converts it into quantifiable optical outputs."

Unlike traditional sensors, this device doesn't need local electronics or bulky wires at the tissue site to work, making it immune to electrical interference—a major issue in current bioelectronic devices.

"Amplifiers can help reduce electrical interference and improve signal quality at the site. However, they are often bulky and can generate heat around surrounding tissue, potentially limiting the system's performance," Almasri says.

"Once you reduce the size of the electrode, it becomes harder to separate the signal from background electrical noise.

"In our technology, we can scale the sensor down to tens of microns—about half the width of a human hair—without losing signal quality or introducing any extra electrical noise."

Nontoxic to the body

The researchers also tested how well the flexible optrodes can survive in cell cultures, examining whether the cells remained healthy, grew normally and functioned safely without harm. They found no signs of toxicity or contamination.

"Our in vitro tests showed the optrode did not affect cell growth and viability compared with silicon controls, which are widely used in current biomonitoring devices," Almasri says.

"As silicon is thicker and more rigid than our device, it can potentially restrict or inhibit cell growth to a greater extent."

Next steps

The team behind the research is actively accelerating the commercialization of the technology through its spinoff company, Sevren Pty Ltd, founded by Professor Nigel Lovell and Professor Francois Ladouceur from UNSW School of Biomedical Engineering.

Despite validating the sensor's capability through animal testing, further in vivo studies are a critical next step to improve signal resolution.

Beyond the heart and brain, this technology could be adapted for monitoring the gut, muscles or even individual cells.

"We want to expand the bandwidth of the signal beyond 10 kilohertz to capture the firing of individual neurons," Almasri says.

"There's also an opportunity to improve the alignment of the liquid crystals. If we increase the sensitivity of the device, we could detect signals at the micron level."

Publication details

Reem. M. Almasri et al, Flexible polymer-based liquid crystal sensor for label-free electro-optical recording of electrophysiological activity, npj Flexible Electronics (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41528-026-00625-6

Journal information: npj Flexible Electronics

Clinical categories

NeurologyCardiology Provided by University of New South Wales Who's behind this story?

Swati Mestri

Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile →

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