**Background:** The paper reviews the emerging field of biomimetic flexible sensors, which combine bionics and flexible electronics to create devices that mimic biological structures and functions for human health monitoring. Traditional rigid sensors cause discomfort and limit continuous monitoring, whereas flexible sensors offer thinness, portability, high sensitivity, and biosafety. The review covers sensing principles, materials, fabrication methods, and applications in medical diagnosis, rehabilitation, and prevention.
**Methods:** The authors conducted a narrative review of the literature, summarizing common signal types (physical and chemical), sensing mechanisms (piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, thermoelectric, etc.), and materials for substrates (PDMS, Ecoflex, hydrogels), electrodes (metals, conductive polymers, carbon nanomaterials, liquid metals), and active layers (carbon nanotubes, graphene, MXene, metal nanowires). Fabrication techniques include photolithography, printing, electrospinning, and 3D printing. The review categorizes applications into diagnostic tools, treatment aids, clinical studies, rehabilitation assistance, and health prevention.
**Key Results:** The paper highlights numerous examples: a graphene electronic skin sensor on silk substrate detects E. coli and S. aureus (McApline et al.). A PANI film with bionic rose micro-dome structure detects NH3 at 10 ppb for kidney disease diagnosis (Li Xu et al.). A reed leaf-templated PDMS sensor achieves pressure sensitivity of 0.6 kPa⁻¹ (0–1 kPa) and detects sweat metabolites via SERS (Liu et al.). A hair-like microstructure sensor monitors pulse waves and blood pressure (reference 209). A spider-inspired tunable sensor (TUNES) measures respiration, muscle contraction, and wrist pulses with 224-fold sensitivity adjustment (Taewi Kim et al.). An ant tentacle-inspired humidity sensor has response/recovery times of 16/25 s (Ouyang et al.). A crocodile-inspired omnidirectional stretchable pressure sensor maintains function at 100% uniaxial strain (Jiyuan Li et al.). A cochlea-inspired PVA/VGN acoustic sensor operates from 60 Hz to 20 kHz (Ahmadi et al.). A scorpion slit receptor-inspired strain sensor shows a measurement factor over 18,000 and stability over 7000 cycles (Liu et al.). A sea urchin-shaped microparticle sensor achieves static pressure detection limit of 0.015 Pa and sensitivity of 121 kPa⁻¹ (Yin et al.). A bamboo leaf-inspired microfluidic patch measures sweat glucose (Zhang et al.).
**Clinical Implications:** Biomimetic flexible sensors enable non-invasive, real-time monitoring of physiological and biochemical markers, improving early diagnosis and personalized treatment. Applications include detecting cancer biomarkers (CEA, PSA), monitoring cardiovascular signals (pulse, ECG, blood pressure), assessing rehabilitation (swimming, vocal fold recovery), and preventing diseases (sleep apnea, UV exposure, stress hormones). The sensors reduce patient discomfort and healthcare costs, but challenges remain in multi-signal integration, washability, antibacterial properties, and signal stability under real-world conditions. Future advances in AI, IoT, and manufacturing will enhance their clinical utility.