SusFE Impact

SusFE 
Impact

SusFE Final Webinar & Project Impact

As the SusFE project reaches its final stage, this section gathers the project’s key outcomes, impact and achievements in the field of sustainable functional electronics for healthcare.

Throughout the project, SusFE has advanced sustainable functional electronics through the development of eco-friendly wearable and diagnostic devices. By integrating innovative materials, printed sensors, flexible electronics, sustainable power solutions, and roll-to-roll manufacturing approaches, the project has contributed to the development of more sustainable healthcare technologies.

The results to be presented during the final event reflect not only the work carried out by the consortium, but also the knowledge generated and the value created during the project. They highlight SusFE’s contribution to more sustainable healthcare solutions, from wound monitoring to point-of-care diagnostics, while supporting Europe’s transition towards a greener and more circular economy.

To mark the end of the project, we invite you to join our final online event, where key results, achievements, and lessons learned will be presented by project representatives.

Impact

Transforming sustainable electronics into meaningful healthcare solutions

The technologies developed within SusFE demonstrate how sustainable flexible electronics can help address current challenges in healthcare. Throughout the project, partners have designed, manufactured and tested technologies for point-of-care diagnostics, blood self-sampling, wound monitoring and wearable cardiometabolic monitoring.

These use cases bring together flexible sensors, printed electronics, bio-based materials, biofuel cells and low-power systems. The results range from laboratory-tested components to functional prototypes and initial studies with volunteers, demonstrating progress towards practical healthcare applications.

The technologies also explore ways to make testing and monitoring more accessible. Collecting samples at home, measuring conditions around a wound or recording physiological signals outside a clinic could give healthcare professionals more information while reducing the demands placed on patients.

Alongside these developments, SusFE has investigated how materials, manufacturing processes and power sources can influence the environmental footprint of healthcare devices. The four use cases below present the results achieved, their potential applications and the opportunities for further development.

Wound monitoring

Flexible sensors to support more informed wound care

Following how a wound heals requires regular assessment, often involving repeated examinations and dressing changes. SusFE developed flexible pH, temperature and humidity sensing technologies to explore how measurements from the wound environment could support this process. Laboratory testing demonstrated sensing performance, battery-free temperature measurement and operation powered by a biofuel cell, providing the foundations for future monitoring patches.

Partners developed and tested three complementary technologies:

  • A flexible pH sensor: measures values between pH 5 and 9, with laboratory accuracy better than 0.25 pH units and stability over five days.
  • A battery-free temperature patch: activated by a smartphone through near-field communication (NFC). Its flexible, non-silicon integrated circuit incorporates sensing and control functions, with reported temperature sensor accuracy of ±0.1°C under laboratory conditions.
  • A temperature and humidity platform powered by a biofuel cell: developed with BeFC technology, the design positions the sensor near the wound while keeping the main electronics separate. Tests demonstrated average operating times of three days at room temperature and two days at 35°C, alongside reliable data storage through NFC.

These results establish a technical basis for flexible wound monitoring. Testing has taken place in laboratories and climatic chambers; the technologies have not yet been validated with patients.

Measurements from the wound environment could help healthcare professionals follow healing after surgery and identify changes requiring closer examination. Future applications could support recovery at home and help avoid unnecessary dressing changes.

Discussions with healthcare professionals at Grenoble hospitals are helping identify which measurements would be most useful and how the device could fit into wound care. Clinical benefits and reductions in workload or costs remain to be evaluated.

The technologies explore battery-free operation, flexible electronics and paper-based, metal-free biofuel cells as alternatives to conventional approaches. These developments address both the power requirements of wearable sensors and the materials used to supply that power.


Life-cycle assessments have been conducted for relevant manufacturing processes and prototype components to examine their environmental performance.

Priorities include improving mechanical durability, managing energy consumption, recording measurement times and adapting the biofuel-cell packaging for use in a medical patch. Integrating the technologies into robust systems and testing them in healthcare settings will be essential steps towards practical use.

Blood self-sampling

Bringing sample collection closer to patients

Collecting blood at home can make repeated testing more convenient, but laboratories also need consistent sample volumes and, for some analyses, a reliable record of collection time. SusFE developed a plasma sampling card with precise volume metering, alongside printed sensors and low-power electronic components for detecting sample collection and monitoring transport conditions. These results advance the development of self-sampling systems that could provide both a sample and the information needed to interpret it.

The work brought together Capitainer’s microfluidic sampling technology, printed sensors and low-power electronics:

  • Precise plasma sampling: the card autonomously separates and meters plasma from whole blood, achieving a volume coefficient of variation below 3%, indicating consistent sample volumes.
  • Sample detection: printed carbon electrodes responded to liquid entering the card, demonstrating a basis for detecting sample collection.
  • Power for sample transport: a bioenzymatic fuel cell was developed to supply the required electronics for up to five days.
  • Laboratory functionality: testing demonstrated operation at room temperature and under controlled conditions of 35°C and 15% relative humidity for several days.

An integration concept was also developed to bring sample detection, timestamping, and temperature and humidity monitoring together. Completing and validating this integration remains part of the next development stage.

The approach could support blood self-sampling at home, decentralised clinical trials and therapeutic drug monitoring, which measures medication levels to help inform treatment. Recording collection times could help healthcare professionals and researchers interpret samples in applications where timing matters.

For patients and trial participants, self-sampling could reduce travel for sample collection. For healthcare and research teams, the technology could provide more information about when samples were taken and the conditions they experienced during transport. These benefits require validation in real-world use.

The prototype uses printed carbon electrodes and a metal-free biofuel cell, exploring alternatives to metal-based electrodes and conventional coin-cell batteries. A life-cycle assessment examined materials, processes and distribution.

Reduced travel associated with sample collection represents a further potential environmental benefit, although transport-related savings have not yet been quantified.

Priorities include completing electronics integration, improving fuel-cell packaging for transport and developing manufacturing processes suitable for larger-scale production.


Further testing will need to demonstrate reliable performance across sample collection, storage and transport. Clinical validation and regulatory compliance will also be required before the system can be introduced into healthcare practice.

Point-of-care diagnostics

Advancing sustainable testing closer to the point of need

Bringing diagnostic testing closer to patients requires sensors that can be manufactured consistently and used with compact reading equipment. SusFE demonstrated the production of electrochemical sensors on bio-based materials, developed an assay for Troponin I and built a handheld reader. The work connects progress in diagnostic sensing with changes to the materials and manufacturing processes used to produce disposable tests.

Partners developed a prototype combining printed electrochemical sensors, small channels that guide samples through the device, and a compact handheld reader.

Key results included:

  • Scalable sensor manufacturing: sensors were produced using roll-to-roll processes, which manufacture devices on a continuous sheet of material. The work incorporated bio-based materials including polylactic acid (PLA) and cellulose acetate.
  • Repeatable laboratory performance: the printed sensors produced consistent electrochemical measurements. In the reported differential pulse voltammetry tests, variation was lower than for the commercial sensors used for comparison.
  • Progress in biomarker detection: an assay for Troponin I produced signals that varied with its concentration, demonstrating a basis for further sensor development.
  • Compact readout technology: a handheld reader delivered measurements comparable to benchtop instruments in laboratory testing.

Testing included serum-containing samples. These results demonstrate progress in manufacturing, sensing and readout technology, while clinical validation remains a future step.

With further development, these technologies could support faster access to diagnostic information in decentralised care settings. This could help healthcare professionals make timely decisions and reduce some of the logistics associated with sending samples to central laboratories.


Future applications could also make testing more accessible to patients. Effects on clinical outcomes, workload and costs have yet to be established.

The use of bio-based materials and continuous manufacturing processes explores ways to reduce the environmental burden of disposable diagnostic devices. A life-cycle assessment has been carried out to evaluate environmental aspects of the technology.

Decentralised testing could also reduce transport requirements, offering a potential benefit beyond changes to the device’s materials and production.

Further work will focus on improving sensor sensitivity, stability and integration, and scaling the chemistry that enables sensors to recognise biomarkers. Testing in operational settings will also be needed.


Potential routes for developing the results include industrial research collaborations, licensing and new ventures. The current prototype provides a research platform for this work.

Cardiometabolic monitoring

Combining wearable signals to better understand physiological state

Monitoring the body’s response to stress and physical demands requires several signals to be considered together. SusFE developed a wearable prototype that combines physiological sensing, flexible printed electrodes and wireless data transmission. Tests with healthy volunteers demonstrated its ability to capture responses during controlled cognitive stress tasks, while initial machine-learning results showed the potential of these measurements for stress classification.

The system combines flexible printed electrodes, wearable electronics, wireless communication and data-processing algorithms.

Key results included:

  • Multiple sensing technologies in one platform: integration of heart electrical activity, skin electrical responses, temperature and bioimpedance sensing, alongside electrochemical sensing components.
  • High-quality physiological signals: laboratory testing demonstrated high-quality heart signals and stable skin-response measurements under controlled conditions.
  • Initial testing with volunteers: controlled experiments with healthy participants demonstrated the feasibility of capturing physiological responses during cognitive stress tasks.
  • Initial stress-classification results: a machine-learning model achieved approximately 93% accuracy in a binary stress-classification task within the controlled study.

The classification result was obtained using an initial, limited dataset. Further testing is needed to establish performance across more users and in everyday environments.

Combining several physiological signals could support monitoring of stress, fatigue and health outside clinical settings. Potential applications include preventive healthcare, remote monitoring and worker health in demanding environments.

For healthcare professionals, the approach could provide additional information about physiological responses over time. For users, it could eventually support more personalised guidance and recognition of changes requiring attention. These applications have yet to be validated.

The platform incorporates printed electronics and explores reduced material consumption, lower silver use and a transition towards bio-based substrates, including PLA and cellulose-based materials.


Material selection and manufacturing have formed part of the development work, with further efforts aimed at improving recyclability and reducing the system’s environmental footprint.

The next stage will focus on testing in real-world environments, expanding the datasets used to develop the algorithms, and improving miniaturisation and robustness. Electrochemical sensing also requires further development for continuous use.

Collaboration with healthcare institutions, industrial partners and technology integrators could support broader validation and the development of specific applications.

SusFE has translated research in sustainable flexible electronics into working healthcare prototypes. The project has demonstrated precise plasma sampling, flexible wound sensors, printed diagnostic devices and wearable systems that capture multiple physiological signals. These advances show how new materials, manufacturing methods and power sources can be incorporated into healthcare technologies, providing concrete results for partners to develop further.

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