The advancement of wearable electronics is accelerating the evolution of devices toward multifunctionality and system-level integration [1]. Current fibre devices already demonstrated multiple discrete functions, such as energy harvesting and storage, sensing, and display, thereby laying a foundation for future intelligent wearable platforms [2]. Nevertheless, the essential signal processing components in such a system still depend on externally connected rigid silicon-based chips. This limitation fundamentally contradicts the flexible and conformal nature of fibres and severely impedes the realization of truly integrated smart fibre systems [3,4]. The critical bottleneck stems from the intrinsic curved geometry and limited surface area of fibres, which hinder the high-resolution fabrication of dense, multifunctional circuits necessary for on-fibre information processing.

Recently, a breakthrough by Peng’s group published in Nature has addressed this fundamental challenge [5]. The authors developed a transformative fibre integrated circuit (FIC) based on a multilayer spiral architecture, fabricated through an innovative strategy combining high-precision patterning on a flat elastic polymer substrate with a modified rolling process that transformed the planar circuits into a fibre geometry. By fully utilizing the radial dimension, this architecture achieved an extraordinary integration density of 10⁵ transistors per centimeter, thereby enabling standalone signal processing and computing functions within a single fibre.

As a representative demonstration, the authors fabricated a 300-μm-diametre FIC incorporating logic circuits. Microscopic imaging confirmed uniform and well-defined circuit patterns with linewidths as narrow as to 5 μm (Figure 1a). Fluorescence tomography further visualized the internal multilayered architecture, revealing spirally arranged layers along the radial direction, with circuits wrapping 360° around the circumference to form a three-dimensional interconnection network (Figure 1b, c). Notably, this fabrication strategy exhibited remarkable scalability, allowing for the production of metre-long FICs with preciously tunable diameters through adjustments in substrate dimensions and layer thicknesses (Figure 1d, e).

Figure 1 Photographs showing the structure of FICs. (a) Photograph of a FIC with exclusive-or circuits on the fibre surface (scale bar: 200 μm) and enlarged views (scale bars: 40 μm). (1), (2) and (3) show the uniformity of the circuits in the FIC. (b) Reconstructed three-dimensional fluorescence photomicrograph showing the connectivity of the microdevices in a FIC. The circuit can be distributed 360° around the fibre circumference. (c) Fluorescence photomicrograph showing an active driving circuit unit inside a FIC, suggesting that a wide variety of devices can be integrated into the fibre. Scale bar: 40 μm. (d) Photograph of FICs being produced at a large scale. The enlarged photograph shows the continuity of circuits in the FICs. Scale bars: 1 cm (left); 1 mm (right). (e) Photograph of a FIC being knotted and placed on a thumb, exhibiting the flexibility and structural integrity of the FIC. Scale bar: 2 mm. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [5].

Furthermore, the FIC demonstrated outstanding flexibility and durability that are unattainable with conventional rigid chips, attributed to its innovative modulus-graded heterostructure design. This architecture alternated high-modulus parylene buffer layers with soft polydimethylsiloxane interlayer, effectively dissipating and redistributing external stress. Consequently, the FIC withstood extreme mechanical deformations, including compression under a 15.6-ton truck, 10000 cycles of bending and abrasion, 30% stretching, and twisting up to 180° cm⁻¹.

Functionally, the FIC executed digital and analogue computational tasks on par with commercial silicon-based chips, such as logic gates, sequential circuits, and waveform generators. Beyond these standard operations, the incorporation of organic electrochemical transistors enabled neuromorphic computing, achieving a recognition accuracy of 99.8% on standard image‑classification tasks. Further, the authors realized fully integrated closed-loop systems that incorporated power supply, sensing, data processing, and display modules within a single fibre, yielding self‑sufficient intelligent fibre prototypes. These advanced capabilities underpinned several transformative applications, including high-density neural probes featuring in-situ signal amplification for high-fidelity recording, smart textiles woven embedded with pixel-level addressable displays, and machine-washable tactile gloves capable of programmable haptic feedback.

Overall, this work represents a paradigm shift in fibre electronics, transforming fibres from passive functional carriers into intelligent platforms endowed with autonomous information processing capabilities. By serving as a versatile and robust computational core, the FIC addresses a key missing link in realizing truly self-sufficient fibre-integrated systems. This advancement provides a foundational framework for next-generation wearable devices, implantable electronics, and human-machine interfaces, thereby propelling fibre electronics toward a new era of functional integration and system-level intelligence.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Science Press and EDP Sciences.

All Figures

Figure 1 Photographs showing the structure of FICs. (a) Photograph of a FIC with exclusive-or circuits on the fibre surface (scale bar: 200 μm) and enlarged views (scale bars: 40 μm). (1), (2) and (3) show the uniformity of the circuits in the FIC. (b) Reconstructed three-dimensional fluorescence photomicrograph showing the connectivity of the microdevices in a FIC. The circuit can be distributed 360° around the fibre circumference. (c) Fluorescence photomicrograph showing an active driving circuit unit inside a FIC, suggesting that a wide variety of devices can be integrated into the fibre. Scale bar: 40 μm. (d) Photograph of FICs being produced at a large scale. The enlarged photograph shows the continuity of circuits in the FICs. Scale bars: 1 cm (left); 1 mm (right). (e) Photograph of a FIC being knotted and placed on a thumb, exhibiting the flexibility and structural integrity of the FIC. Scale bar: 2 mm. Reproduced with permission from Ref. [5].

In the text