Abstract
Monitoring internal physiological signals is essential for effective medical care1, yet most current technologies rely on external measurements or imaging systems that cannot capture enough deep-tissue dynamics2,3,4,5,6. Implantable devices offer a solution, but conventional designs often require batteries or magnets7,8,9,10,11, which carry risks during removal, and existing biodegradable sensors based on passive inductor–capacitor circuits are limited by short readout distances and unstable communication issues12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19. Here we describe a soft, biodegradable, wireless sensing device that can monitor pressure, temperature and strain over long distances (up to 16 cm), maintaining accuracy across varying positions and angles. This is achieved through a ‘pole-moving sweeping’ readout system combined with a folded structure that integrates mechanical flexibility with electromagnetic function. In vivo tests in the abdominal cavity of horses reliably captured deep-tissue pressure and temperature, and ex vivo measurements demonstrated accurate strain monitoring without strict positional control. The long-distance and wide-angle readout of soft biodegradable implants holds translational promise for accessing deep-tissue physiological signals.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available in the paper, Supplementary Information and source data. Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability
Custom codes for collection of the phase–frequency response data are available at GitHub (https://github.com/lanyuqun/Long-distance-wireless-sensing-platform).
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Acknowledgements
We thank S. Xie, J. Yang, X. Wei, Q. Zhou, R. Ding, Q. Li, K. Chen, J. Du, D. Jiang and M. Wang for providing technical support. We also thank the Advanced Research and Testing Laboratory, Center of Nanofabrication, Tsinghua University and Keysight Technologies for providing technical support for the impedance analyser. We acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12172359, 11921002, 12032014, 61421002 and T2488101). Y.S. acknowledges the support from the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBS-LY-JSC014) and the CAS Interdisciplinary Innovation Team (JCTD-2020-03). X.Y. acknowledges the support from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (11213721, 11215722, 11211523 and RFS2324-1S03) and the City University of Hong Kong (9229055, 9610444, 9678274 and 9680322).
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Contributions
S.L., Y.L. and Y.S. conceptualized the study. Y.L., S.L., Y.S. and X.Y. developed the methodology. Y.L. wrote the software. Y.L. and S.L. validated the results. Y.L. and S.L. conducted formal analysis. Y.L., S.L., H. Guo, Q.L., T.W., L.Z., Y. Zhao, Y. Zhu, Jing Li, Z.Z., Q.W., R.S., X.W., X.X., Yuhong Wu, Z.W., B.L., Jiaqi Li, H.L. and H. Gao performed the investigation. Y.S., Q.G., Yuchen Wu, S.L. and H. Gao provided the resources. Y.L. and S.L. curated the data. Y.L. and S.L. wrote the original draft. S.L., Y.S., X.Y. and X.-Q.F. reviewed and edited the manuscript. Y.L., J.F. and S.L. created the visualizations. Y.S., S.L. and X.Y. supervised the project. Y.S., X.-Q.F. and X.Y. acquired the funding.
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Competing interests
S.L. and X.-Q.F. are inventors on a patent application (CN202311773783.2) that describes an early version of the readout system. Y.S., Y.L. and S.L. are inventors on two other patent applications (CN202511447742.3 and CN202511447887.3) that are more closely related to the readout system and sensor design reported in this study. All patents are pending. The other authors declare no competing interests.
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Extended data figures and tables
Extended Data Fig. 1 Effect of distance and angle on the coupling coefficient of two coupled coils.
a, Schematic diagram of the studied distance l and angle α. b, Finite element results of coupling coefficients with distance and angle. The effect of distance l is analyzed for a fixed angle α = 0° and the effect of angle α is analyzed for a fixed distance l = 50 mm.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Theoretical phase diagram analysis and examples of our readout system.
a, Phase diagram of the derivatives of the phase-frequency curves for different coupling coefficients k and frequency f. b, Examples of the phase-frequency curves with different coupling coefficients k.
Extended Data Fig. 3
Different methods of passive wireless sensing based on LC circuits.
Extended Data Fig. 4 Comparison of DP, PT-symmetric, and EP-locked systems.
The pole-zero plots and the phase-frequency curves of a,d, DP system (\({\gamma }_{{\rm{r}}}={\gamma }_{{\rm{s}}}=0.01\), ωr = 1), b,e, PT-symmetric system (\({\gamma }_{{\rm{r}}}\to -{g}_{1}=-\,{\gamma }_{{\rm{s}}}-0.01\), ωr = 1) and c,f, EP-locked system (ωr1 = ωr2 = 1, \({g}_{{\rm{r}}1}={\gamma }_{{\rm{r}}2}=\mu \) = 0.95) under the same parameters κ = 0.003, ωs = 1. g-k, S11 of different systems, with the parameters of each system corresponding to Fig. 2e,f and above d-f. l,m, The phase-frequency curves of our system and EP-locked system for κ = 0.0001 and κ = 0 (without sensors) at resonance. Other parameters: ωr1 = ωr2 = 1, \({g}_{{\rm{r}}1}={\gamma }_{{\rm{r}}2}=\mu =0.95\). n, The zoomed-in view of m.
Extended Data Fig. 5 Coupling of the copper-coil reader and copper-coil “sensor”.
a, Photographs of the reader coil and sensor coil. b, Illustration of the geometric parameters. c, COMSOL simulation results of the coupling coefficient k as a function of distance. d, Relationship between the program instructions (code) and output voltage of digital-to-analogue converter. e, Relationship between the output voltage of digital-to-analogue converter and the resonant frequency of reader. f, Measured results at different distances with an angle of 0 degrees. g, Measured results at different angles with a distance of 10 cm.
Extended Data Fig. 6
Folding process of capacitor’s electrodes.
Extended Data Fig. 7 Geometric details and experimental results on distance and angle insensitivity of the pressure sensor.
a, Planar dimensional diagram of the pressure sensor. b, Explosion diagram of the pressure sensor. c, The measured frequency change of the pressure sensor caused by the distance variation from 5 cm to 16 cm. d, The corresponding phase-frequency curve. e, The allowable ranges of instrument accuracy and readout distance for our readout system and the standard readout system under a 1% total error requirement. f, Comparison of signals between our readout system and the standard readout system at a distance of 7 cm and an angle of 0 degrees.
Extended Data Fig. 8 Geometric details of the temperature sensor.
a, Planar dimensional diagram of the temperature sensor. b, Explosion diagram of the temperature sensor.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information (download PDF )
This file contains Supplementary Notes 1–15, Supplementary Figs. 1–36 and Supplementary References.
Supplementary Video 1 (download MP4 )
Peristalsis of horse’s intestine, procedure of suturing the sensor and signal measurement (MP4).
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Lan, Y., Li, S., Guo, H. et al. Soft biodegradable implants for long-distance and wide-angle sensing. Nature 649, 366–374 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09874-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09874-3
