Among vital elements in our body, ion channel are essential units which sustain life in all living cells as continuously transporting appropriate ions through plasma cell membranes. In addition, the somatic functions of ion channels are fundamentally indispensable for sensory organ homeostasis. For decades, biological ion channels have led to much inspiration because of their unique and exquisite operational functions in living cells. Specifically, their extreme and dynamic sensing abilities can be realized by the combination of receptors and pores coupled together to build ion channel systems.

In this presentation, we demonstrate that artificial ion channel pressure sensors inspired by nature for detecting pressure are highly sensitive and wearable. Our ion channel pressure sensors basically consisted of receptors and nanopore membranes, enabling dynamic current responses to external forces for multiple applications. The ion channel pressure sensors had a sensitivity of ∼5.6 kPa⁻¹ and a response time of ∼12 ms at a frequency of 1 Hz. The power consumption was recorded as less than a few μW. Moreover, linear regression was performed in terms of temperature, which showed no significant variations, and there were no significant current variations with humidity. The patchable ion channel pressure sensors were then used to detect blood pressure in humans, and different signals were clearly observed for each person. Additionally, modified ion channel pressure sensors detected complex motions including pressing and folding in a high-pressure range.

In comparison to previous pressure sensors, our ion channel pressure sensors engaged sensory organs could provide feasible control of the bandwidth via selecting different electrolytes and unique signal shape according to the type of pressure receptor chosen, and the dynamic output signal may offer discrete information for an object. We expect that if the diverse functions of ion channels in nature could be further modified or mimicked for various applications, then artificial sensory systems such as the one described in this study would be tremendously greeted in a new era of sensors.