When UC Berkeley engineers say they are going to make you sweat, it is all in the name of science.
Specifically, it is for a flexible sensor system that can measure metabolites and electrolytes in sweat, calibrate the data based upon skin temperature and sync the results in real time to a smartphone.
While health monitors have exploded onto the consumer electronics scene over the past decade, researchers say this device, reported in the Jan. 28 issue of the journal Nature, is the first fully integrated electronic system that can provide continuous, non-invasive monitoring of multiple biochemicals in sweat.
The advance opens doors to wearable devices that alert users to health problems such as fatigue, dehydration and dangerously high body temperatures.
“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 UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences. “However, sweat is complex and it is necessary to measure multiple targets to extract meaningful information about your state of health. In this regard, 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.”
