A team of Penn State researchers has developed a patch that, when placed gently on the skin, studies the composition of our sweat in real time to monitor glucose levels and provide valuable data that could be vital, particularly for diabetics.
The fulcrum of the system (I can already imagine certain comments on social media) is a material called LIG, laser-induced graphene (that's him!), combined with a 3D gold and silver mesh. Together they create a sensor capable of precisely reading the chemistry of our sweat and sending data to a connected device, to monitor our health one drop at a time (after the tears).
The sweat challenge
Although it is a precious source of information, sweat is a real "loose cannon": it changes its composition with our diet, physical exercise, and even with environmental conditions. Previous sensors failed when faced with these variables, offering a distorted reading or simply losing their bearings in this sea of variables.
The new sensor just developed improves the conductivity and resistance to oxidation and agglomeration of the material: a solid foundation that has allowed researchers to build a robust and sensitive sensor, capable of outperforming previous ones.
Real-time monitoring
The patch is a small laboratory that lives on our skin. It can measure glucose levels in sweat by detecting glucose oxidation on its surface. This process generates a change in current or potential proportional to the glucose concentration.
That's not all: the patch can also evaluate pH levels in sweat by detecting hydrogen ions in the solution, e temperature, through another LIG-based sensor. In other words: a continuous flow of information about our health.
Beyond glucose
The initial goal of the researchers is of course to offer the solution for early diagnosis and effective management of diseases such as diabetes in a continuous and non-invasive way. And "long-lived", too: the sweat sensor patch can measure glucose levels for up to three weeks with high sensitivity and stability, laying the foundations for a future in which diabetes management is increasingly easier.
Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, lead author of the study (that I link to you here) and associate professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State, sees a future in which the patch could extend to detect other biomarkers in sweat. Hormones, electrolytes, metabolites: they could reveal information on various aspects of health such as stress, hydration, nutrition and metabolism in a never so precise way.
Health literally at your fingertips, or rather, on the surface of your skin.
