Wearable sensors can monitor your sweat in real-time

Engineers at a US university have developed wearable sensors that can monitor your sweat in real-time, providing meaningful information about your state of health.

"Human sweat contains physiologically rich information, thus making it an attractive body fluid for non-invasive wearable sensors," said study principal investigator Ali Javey, a University of California-Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences.

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The flexible sensor system can measure metabolites and electrolytes in sweat, calibrate the data based upon skin temperature and sync the results in real time to a smartphone.

"We have developed a fully integrated system that simultaneously and selectively measures multiple sweat analytes, and wirelessly transmits the processed data to a smartphone. Our work presents a technology platform for sweat-based health monitors," Javey added.

Javey worked with study co-lead authors Wei Gao and Sam Emaminejad, both of whom are postdoctoral fellows in his lab. The team then consulted exercise physiologist George Brooks, a University of California-Berkeley professor of integrative biology.

"Having a wearable sweat sensor is really incredible because the metabolites and electrolytes measured by the Javey device are vitally important for the health and well-being of an individual," Brooks said.

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"When studying the effects of exercise on human physiology, we typically take blood samples. With this non-invasive technology, someday it may be possible to know what's going on physiologically without needle sticks or attaching little, disposable cups on you," he added. The device is described in a paper published online on January 27 in Nature.

Source IANS