Patch-biosensor
Sweat analysis instead of blood analysis
The procedure of taking blood for analysis is very unpleasant, besides, samples must be sent to the laboratory for analysis, so the patient has to wait for the results for some time. However, now scientists from the University of Cincinnati and the US Air Force Research Laboratory are developing a system that can send this procedure into the past.
A special patch is able to collect and transmit medical data in almost real time based on the analysis of the patient's sweat. In order to find out the results, you only need a smartphone.
Developed by the team of Professor Jason Heikenfeld, the elastic adhesive patch contains an electronic circuit, a communication antenna, a chip controller and a microfluidic paper system for collecting sweat. Only a very small sample will need to be collected from the surface of the skin.
Sweat moves through the paper with microscopic channels for some time, and the super-nourishing hydrogel, also part of the miracle patch, retains its shape. Even after several hours of collecting sweat, the gel swells only by 2-3 millimeters.
Diagram from the article Sweat Sensors Will Change How Wearables Track Your Health – VM.
Such a patch does not have its own power source: it receives energy from the smartphone signal. After the phone is placed close enough, the patch starts working by measuring the concentration of biomarker ions present in the sweat.
The first prototype of the device was designed to measure the concentration of sodium and chlorine in sweat. However, it is planned that future versions will be able to detect electrolytes, metabolic products, proteins, small molecules and even amino acids.
The received data will be transmitted wirelessly to a special application on the smartphone. Analysis of the concentration of ions in the biomarker will help to identify the physical condition of the patient. This means that one day this technology can be used for applications such as measuring glucose levels in the body of diabetics, monitoring the condition of athletes, assessing the condition of premature infants, analyzing the level of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as for accurate dosage of drugs by measuring the metabolites of the drug in the patient's sweat.
For example, in athletes, a drop in electrolyte levels can lead to painful cramps. Heavy loads often lead to tissue damage, and this kind of analysis will help to identify it in time and prevent it.
It is expected that testing of a simple version of the system on humans will begin at the very end of 2014. In addition, work on the second generation of plasters has almost been completed.
Heikenfield provided a report on his project in an article for the IEEE Spectrum magazine.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru05.11.2014