Wearable Lets Users Control Machines and Robots While on the Move

November 17, 2025

Engineers have developed a next-generation wearable system that enables people to control machines using everyday gestures — even while running, riding in a car or floating on turbulent ocean waves. Full Story

Sweat-powered Sticker Turns Your Drinking Cup into a Health Sensor

November 10, 2025

Engineers have developed a battery-free electronic sticker that attaches to everyday objects like a drinking cup and monitors vitamin C levels from a person’s fingertip sweat. The technology could make personal nutrition monitoring as effortless as holding a cup of coffee. Full Story

Wristband Sensor Provides All-in-one Monitoring for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Care

July 10, 2025

A new wearable wristband could significantly improve diabetes management by continuously tracking not only glucose but also other chemical and cardiovascular signals that influence disease progression and overall health. Full Story

Six UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Faculty Named 2025 IEEE Fellows

January 16, 2025

Six faculty from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have been named 2025 Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Full Story

Blood Pressure Readings at Your Fingertips

January 14, 2025

Soon, you will be able to take your blood pressure at home using only your smartphone, thanks to research conducted by electrical engineers at UC San Diego. They developed a technique that uses a phone's native camera, vibration motor and motion sensor to take blood pressure readings. Full Story

Researchers Develop Clinically Validated, Wearable Ultrasound Patch for Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring

November 20, 2024

A re-engineered wearable ultrasound patch for continuous and noninvasive blood pressure monitoring has undergone comprehensive clinical validation on over 100 patients, marking a major milestone in wearable technology research. The soft, stretchy patch provides precise, real-time readings of blood pressure deep within the body. It could offer a simpler and more reliable alternative to current clinical methods. Full Story

Wearable Ultrasound Tech for Muscle Monitoring Opens New Possibilities in Healthcare and Human-machine Interfaces

October 31, 2024

Engineers have developed a compact, wearable ultrasound device that monitors muscle activity. Attachable to the skin with an adhesive and powered by a small battery, the device wirelessly captures high-resolution images of muscle movements, enabling continuous, long-term monitoring. When worn on the rib cage, it effectively monitored diaphragm function for respiratory health assessments. When worn on the forearm, it accurately captured hand gestures, allowing users to control a robotic arm and even navigate virtual games. This new technology has potential applications in healthcare for conditions affecting muscle function, as well as in human-machine interfaces for more natural robotic control. Full Story

Finger Wrap Uses Sweat To Provide Health Monitoring at Your Fingertips -- Literally

September 3, 2024

A sweat-powered wearable has the potential to make continuous, personalized health monitoring as effortless as wearing a Band-Aid. UC San Diego engineers have developed an electronic finger wrap that monitors vital chemical levels—such as glucose, vitamins, and even drugs—present in the same fingertip sweat from which it derives its energy. Full Story

Wearable Ultrasound Patch Enables Continuous, Non-Invasive Monitoring of Cerebral Blood Flow

May 22, 2024

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable ultrasound patch that can offer continuous, non-invasive monitoring of blood flow in the brain. The soft and stretchy patch can be comfortably worn on the temple to provide three-dimensional data on cerebral blood flow—a first in wearable technology. Full Story

UC San Diego Engineers Inducted Into 2024 Class of the AIMBE College of Fellows

March 25, 2024

Two engineering professors at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering were inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Professors Ludmil Alexandrov and Sheng Xu were among the 162 new AIMBE Fellows who were recognized at a ceremony during the AIMBE Annual Event on March 25. Full Story

These Tiny Power Converters Run on Vibrational Energy

February 20, 2024

The University of California San Diego and CEA-Leti scientists have developed a ground-breaking piezoelectric-based DC-DC converter that unifies all power switches onto a single chip to increase power density. This new power topology, which extends beyond existing topologies, blends the advantages of piezoelectric converters with capacitive-based DC-DC converters. Full Story

Transforming Clinical Recording of Deep Brain Activity with a New Take on Sensor Manufacturing

January 17, 2024

Sensors built with a new manufacturing approach are capable of recording activity deep within the brain from large populations of individual neurons–with a resolution of as few as one or two neurons–in humans as well as a range of animal models, according to a study published in the Jan. 17, 2024 issue of the journal Nature Communications. The research team is led by the Integrated Electronics and Biointerfaces Laboratory (IEBL) at the University of California San Diego. Full Story

Smartphone Attachment Could Increase Racial Fairness in Neurological Screening

October 24, 2023

This smartphone attachment could enable people to screen for a variety of neurological conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury, at low cost—and do so accurately regardless of their skin tone. The attachment fits over a smartphone's camera to capture clear video of pupil size changes, which can offer clues about an individual's neurological functions. The device helps the camera see the pupil easily in dark eye colors.  Full Story

These screen-printed, flexible sensors allow earbuds to record brain activity and exercise levels

September 28, 2023

A pair of earbuds can be turned into a tool to record the electrical activity of the brain as well as levels of lactate in the body with the addition of two flexible sensors screen-printed onto a stamp-like flexible surface.   Full Story

UC San Diego Nanoengineering and Chemical Engineering Professor Sheng Xu Named Finalist for Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

August 7, 2023

University of California San Diego nanoengineering and chemical engineering professor Sheng Xu has been named a Finalist for the 2023 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. This nationwide awards program celebrates the most innovative, faculty-ranked scientists and engineers in the United States who are under the age of 42.    Full Story

UC San Diego teams earn four of 18 Qualcomm Innovation Fellowships in North America for 2023

July 24, 2023

Four UC San Diego teams have been awarded prestigious Qualcomm Innovation Fellowships for North America in 2023. The teams are affiliated with UC San Diego's Center for Visual Computing; Center for Wearable Sensors; and Contextual Robotics Institute.    Full Story

Super Low-cost Smartphone Attachment Brings Blood Pressure Monitoring to Your Fingertips

May 29, 2023

UC San Diego engineers have developed a simple 3D-printed attachment that clips over a smartphone's camera and flash to measure blood pressure at the user's fingertip. The clip works with a custom smartphone app and currently costs about 80 cents to make. Researchers say it could help make regular blood pressure monitoring easy, affordable and accessible to people in resource-poor communities. Full Story

Insulin detection in diabetes mellitus: challenges and new prospects

May 25, 2023

This Perspective discusses the advances and challenges in moving insulin assays from traditional laboratory-based assays to frequent and continuous measurements in decentralized (point-of-care and home) settings.  Full Story

A Giant Leap Forward in Wireless Ultrasound Monitoring for Subjects in Motion

May 22, 2023

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed the first fully integrated wearable ultrasound system for deep-tissue monitoring, including for subjects on the go. It marks a major breakthrough for one of the world’s leading wearable ultrasound labs. Full Story

Leading Wearable Ultrasound Lab Creates a Breakthrough in Deep Tissue Monitoring

May 2, 2023

UC San Diego engineers have developed a stretchable ultrasonic array that facilitates serial, non-invasive, three-dimensional imaging of tissues as deep as four centimeters below the surface of human skin, at a spatial resolution of 0.5 millimeters. This new method provides a non-invasive, longer-term alternative to current methods, with improved penetration depth. Full Story