‘Smart Necklace’ Will Sweat Out the Body’s Deepest Secrets

Highlights:

Everything from disease, infection, and even mental health can be found in a person’s sweat
Analyzing the composition of sweat could help identify diseases at an early stage
Based on these facts, researchers designed a smart necklace to track the sweat changes

Researchers have successfully tested a device that may one day use the chemical biomarkers in sweat to detect changes in a person’s health.

New Biosensor Tracks Health Status Through Sweat

In a new study published in the journal Science Advances, a team from The Ohio State University demonstrated a battery-free, wireless biochemical sensor that detected the blood sugar – or glucose – humans excrete from their skin when they exercise.

They fabricated a “smart necklace “with a functional clasp and pendant and placed it around the neck of participants to monitor their glucose levels of study participants as they exercised[1].

About Skin
Skin types can range from oily to dry, extreme dryness accompanied by rashes and itching can often denote the presence of a skin problem or skin disorder.

‘Sweat made up of water along with trace electrolytes not only regulates your body temperature but plays an important role in your overall wellbeing.’

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Instead of a battery, it works using a resonance circuit, which reflects radio frequency signals sent out by an external reader system. After engaging in indoor cycling for 30 minutes, participants took a 15-minute break, during which they drank sugar-sweetened beverages, before resuming cycling.

Researchers knew that glucose levels in the sweat should rise after drinking the sugary beverages but the question was whether this new sensor would pick it up.

The results showed the sensor did track the glucose levels successfully, which suggests it will work to monitor other important chemicals in sweat.

What Sweat Tells Us About Our Health?

Sweat contains hundreds of biomarkers that can reveal very important information about our health status. Biomarkers are substances that can reveal everything from disease, infection and even evidence of emotional trauma can be found in a person’s bodily fluids, which include sweat, tears, saliva, and urine[2].

Excessive Sweating - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Hyperhidrosis is a condition of excess sweating and consists of primary and secondary hyperhidrosis. Primary hyperhidrosis is classified into focal and generalized hyperhidrosis based on the location.

In addition to analyzing the composition of sweat, the researchers believe this sensor could one day be customized as bioimplants and used to detect neurotransmitters and hormones, which could help understand how the brain functions.

Additionally, this smart necklace requires only a minimum amount of sweat for the interface to work due to the miniaturized structure of the sensing interface.

Nano-ribbons to Monitor Glucose Level from Sweat and Tears
Highly-sensitive wearable biosensor using nano-ribbons that can monitor glucose level from body fluid such as sweat and tears has been developed by recent research.

Instead of using the bulky and rigid computer chips found in our phones and laptops, the sensors are made out of ultra-thin materials.

This style of design makes the product highly flexible, protects the device’s functionality, and ensures that it can safely come into contact with a person’s skin[3].

Diet Tips to Improve Body Odor
Body odor occurs when sweat mixes with the microbes on the skin. Following the right diet for body odor can be a fruitful step to deodorize body odor.

While the study notes that further miniaturization would make it more feasible for this and similar devices to become implantable. For now, it is considered a lightweight device with simple circuit layouts that could be easily integrated into our daily lives.

Some of us may wear necklaces, some may wear earrings or rings. But we believe these sensors could be placed in something we all wear and that it could help us better track our health.

References:

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2019.0217
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34264030/
https://news.osu.edu/smart-necklace-biosensor-may-track-health-status-through-sweat/

Source-Medindia