Detecting subtle yet fast skeletal muscle contractions with ultrasoft and durable graphene-based cellular materials

Abstract

Human bodily movements are primarily controlled by the contractions of skeletal muscles. Unlike joint or skeletal movements that are generally performed in the large displacement range, the contractions of the skeletal muscles that underpin these movements are subtle in intensity yet high in frequency. This subtlety of movement makes it a formidable challenge to develop wearable and durable soft materials to electrically monitor such motions with high fidelity for the purpose of, for example, muscle/neuromuscular disease diagnosis. Here we report that an intrinsically fragile ultralow-density graphene-based cellular monolith sandwiched between silicone rubbers can exhibit a highly effective ..