Issue 17, 2018

A wearable patch for continuous monitoring of sweat electrolytes during exertion

Abstract

Implementation of wearable sweat sensors for continuous measurement of fluid based biomarkers (including electrolytes, metabolites and proteins) is an attractive alternative to common, yet intrusive and invasive, practices such as urine or blood analysis. Recent years have witnessed several key demonstrations of sweat based electrochemical sensing in wearable formats, however, there are still significant challenges and opportunities in this space for clinical acceptance, and thus mass implementation of these devices. For instance, there are inherent challenges in establishing direct correlations between sweat-based and gold-standard plasma-based biomarker concentrations for clinical decision-making. In addition, the wearable sweat monitoring devices themselves may exacerbate these challenges, as they can significantly alter sweat physiology (example, sweat rate and composition). Reported here is the demonstration of a fully integrated, wireless, wearable and flexible sweat sensing device for non-obtrusive and continuous monitoring of electrolytes during moderate to intense exertion as a metric for hydration status. The focus of this work is twofold: 1- design of a conformable fluidics systems to suit conditions of operation for sweat collection (to minimize sensor lag) with rapid removal of sweat from the sensing site (to minimize effects on sweat physiology). 2- integration of Na+ and K+ ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) with flexible microfluidics and low noise small footprint electronics components to enable wireless, wearable sweat monitoring. While this device is specific to electrolyte analysis during intense perspiration, the lessons in microfluidics and overall system design are likely applicable across a broad range of analytes.

Graphical abstract: A wearable patch for continuous monitoring of sweat electrolytes during exertion

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Mai 2018
Accepted
17 Jul 2018
First published
31 Jul 2018

Lab Chip, 2018,18, 2632-2641

Author version available

A wearable patch for continuous monitoring of sweat electrolytes during exertion

A. Alizadeh, A. Burns, R. Lenigk, R. Gettings, J. Ashe, A. Porter, M. McCaul, R. Barrett, D. Diamond, P. White, P. Skeath and M. Tomczak, Lab Chip, 2018, 18, 2632 DOI: 10.1039/C8LC00510A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements