Applications of Wearable Sensors and Body Worn Devices
A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2027 | Viewed by 21
Special Issue Editor
Interests: wearable technology; digital health; fall prevention; cognitive impairment; exergame; gamification; diabetes care; diabetic foot; wound healing; telehealth; dementia; peripheral vascular disease; movement science; mobile health; population health; aging in place and well-built
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The growing economic burden on healthcare systems—both in developed and developing nations—is increasingly linked to population aging, with over 70% of older adults projected to require some form of long-term care. This challenge is intensified by longer life expectancies and a sharp rise in chronic health conditions. In the U.S. alone, over 10,000 individuals become eligible for Medicare each day, many of whom will develop multiple chronic diseases, representing a substantial share of overall healthcare expenditures.
Addressing chronic conditions effectively requires a fundamental shift in our care model, from reactive treatment to proactive, patient-centered care. Current healthcare systems often position patients as passive recipients of services, overlooking the transformative potential of engaging them as active participants in their own health. Chronic disease management must increasingly emphasize self-care, digital enablement, and personalized interventions supported by caregivers and health professionals alike.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored vulnerabilities in our traditional healthcare infrastructure. It revealed how ill-equipped conventional delivery systems are to provide timely, preventive care during global crises, particularly for older adults and those with chronic illnesses. This disruption highlighted the urgent need for scalable, flexible models of care that reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and extend access to where patients feel most comfortable: at home or in the community.
Fortunately, the rapid evolution and growing acceptance of digital health technologies—particularly wearable sensors, interoperable medical devices, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, and AI-driven analytics—have opened new avenues to reimagine the way healthcare is delivered. These innovations make it possible to enable continuous, passive, and remote monitoring; derive actionable insights from real-world, longitudinal data; and design tailored, preventive, and context-sensitive interventions that extend care beyond traditional clinical settings. However, significant challenges persist in translating high-dimensional sensor data into clinically meaningful, personalized care strategies. Bridging this gap requires interdisciplinary innovation to ensure that these tools truly empower patients in managing their health, support caregivers with timely and actionable information, and assist healthcare providers in delivering proactive, adaptive, and precise interventions across a continuum of care environments.
This Special Issue invites research contributions that harness wearable technologies, remote monitoring systems, and data-driven solutions to proactively manage chronic conditions and promote preventive care. We are particularly interested in studies that:
- Develop digital biomarkers to monitor chronic condition severity, including motor and cognitive decline, and predict risks such as diabetic foot ulcers, falls, and unplanned hospitalizations.
- Apply digital health technologies to manage symptoms like pain, fatigue, stress, and sleep disturbances.
- Improve care coordination, treatment adherence, and patient engagement through connected solutions.
- Assess environmental factors (e.g., temperature, humidity, light, air quality) that influence health and wellbeing.
- Use advanced analytics to integrate multimodal data, visualize behavior patterns, and detect early signs of disease onset or recovery (e.g., COVID-19, post-discharge recovery).
- Leverage edge computing and AI to enable real-time, context-aware interactions between patients and care teams.
- Implement gamification strategies to enhance patient motivation, engagement, and adherence to personalized care plans.
- Design technologies that support continuity of care following hospital discharge and promote sustained health management at home.
- Develop tools to support patient prehabilitation and strengthen resilience before surgery or other major treatments.
- Enhance communication between patients, caregivers, and clinicians through intelligent, bidirectional platforms that integrate patient-generated data into clinical workflows.
- Enable decentralized clinical trials and hybrid models of care through remote monitoring, e-consent, and digital engagement platforms to increase access, inclusivity, and efficiency.
We welcome interdisciplinary work that advances access to care, bridges clinical and technological domains, and supports the evolution of healthcare from institution-centered to patient-centered—bringing personalized, preventive care to wherever the patient is.
Sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Bijan Najafi
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- wearable sensors
- digital health
- digital biomarkers
- healthcare
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