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Body sensor networks based on flexible topological clothing

Nature Electronics volume 9, pages 59–68 (2026)Cite this article

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Abstract

Body sensor networks wirelessly interconnect multiple on-body sensors using metamaterials that are capable of supporting microwave near-field or surface-wave propagations. However, the design of such networks is typically restricted to one-dimensional unit-cell structures. Topological metamaterials are often used in photonics applications such as lasers and photon sources, but their integration with biological systems remain limited due to low flexibility, high bending loss and high energy dissipation in biological environments. Here we report flexible topological metamaterial clothing that can provide robust biosensing networks on the human body. The approach is based on two-dimensional topological modules fabricated from thin metallic conductive textiles. The resulting topological edge states improve on-body signal transmission by over three orders of magnitude (more than 30 dB) compared with conventional radiative networks, and can maintain performance under various bending angles. The modular design allows reconfiguration by varying the combination of topological phase modules. We show that the topological clothing with interconnected biosensors, and enhanced with machine learning algorithms, can monitor vital signs during exercise with an over two orders of magnitude improvement in signal-to-noise ratio and a threefold increase in accuracy compared with a system without topological clothing.

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Fig. 1: Flexible topological clothing on the human body.
Fig. 2: Experimental characterization of topological clothing.
Fig. 3: Experimental characterization of enhanced wireless communication on the body during exercise.
Fig. 4: Demonstration of sensitive vital-sign monitoring during exercise.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper are available via GitHub at https://github.com/zhipengli-ustc/body_sensor_network_topological_clothing. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

The codes are available via GitHub at https://github.com/zhipengli-ustc/body_sensor_network_topological_clothing.

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Acknowledgements

H.J. acknowledges the support from the National Key R&D Program (Grant No. 2024YFE0102400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11935006 and 12421005) and the Hunan Major Sci-Tech Program (Grant No. 2023ZJ1010). Z. Liu acknowledges the support from Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (Grant No. 2025JJ50393), The Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2023GK2009), Hunan Provincial Major Sci-Tech Program (Grant No. 2023ZJ1010) and Education Department of Hunan Province of China (Grant No. 24B0059). C.W.Q. acknowledges the support from Ministry of Education, Singapore (Grant No. A-8002152-00-00). We acknowledge the fabrication support from Changsha Multilayer PCB Technology Co., Ltd.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Zhipeng Li, Zhu Liu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Microelectronics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Zhipeng Li

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Zhipeng Li, Shuihua Yang, Jianfeng Chen, Qihang Zeng, John S. Ho & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  3. Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Physics and Devices in Post-Moore Era, College of Hunan Province, Hunan Research Center of the Basic Discipline for Quantum Effects and Quantum Technologies, School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China

    Zhu Liu, Zhen Wang, Yikuan Deng & Hui Jing

  4. Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) and Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China

    Yuzhe Zhong & Haitao Yang

  5. Wireless and Smart Bioelectronics Laboratory, School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China

    Ze Xiong

  6. Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China

    Xi Tian

  7. College of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, China

    Gaosheng Li

  8. Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

    Yang Chen

Authors
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Contributions

Z. Li, Z. Liu and C.-W.Q. conceived and planned the research. Z. Li, Z. Liu, H.J., J.S.H. and C.-W.Q. designed the wireless systems and performed the simulations. Z. Liu, Y.D., Z.W., Q.Z. and G.L. characterized the system and performed the experiments. Z. Li, S.Y., J.C., Y.Z., H.Y., Z.X., X.T. and Y.C. analysed data and plotted figures. Z. Li and Z. Liu wrote the paper with input from all the authors. C.-W.Q. supervised the project.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhu Liu, Hui Jing or Cheng-Wei Qiu.

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Nature Electronics thanks Jingna Mao and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Li, Z., Liu, Z., Wang, Z. et al. Body sensor networks based on flexible topological clothing. Nat Electron 9, 59–68 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-025-01516-w

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