A facile, precise radial artery pulse sensor based on stretchable graphene-coated fiber

•Radial artery pulse sensor was fabricated using flexible graphene-coated fiber.•Periodic pulse wave and subtle wave changes were successfully detected.•The radial artery augmentation index could be accurately calculated from the obtained waveforms. We design and fabricate a facile, portable and scalable radial artery pulse sensor, then successfully employ it into the analysis of personalized health status. The sensing component comes from a stretchable graphene-coated fiber which shows good linearity and sensitivity to the tensile strain. Further combined with the smart structure of the sensor, the precise detection of periodic pulse wave and the wave changes induced by exercise and disease becomes avaiable and repeatable. In particular, the obtained single waveform contains almost all the characteristics the medical analysis requires, from which we can evaluate the cardiovascular risk factors for citizen medicine, home healthcare and disease prevention.