Today I would like to highlight an interesting development at the forefront of wearable diagnostics. Researchers have developed wearable devices that can monitor nutrients, hormones, and drugs. [1].
Real-time health monitoring
In recent years, the popularity of medical wearables has increased. Decades ago, complex diagnostic devices capable of measuring circulating molecules in blood were large, cumbersome and bulky, but thanks to advances, such systems have become small and portable. , thanks to advances in processor technology and the ever-smaller sizes that can be manufactured.
Based at the California Institute of Technology’s Cherng School of Medical Engineering, these researchers recently unveiled this new device. They showed how to detect trace amounts of nutrients and other molecules in human sweat. These nutrients and molecules serve as useful biomarkers for real-time determination of human health.
The technology behind the sensor was developed at the Wei Gao lab, which has been developing wearable technology like this for years. This new, more precise device represents a new culmination of that work.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the new sensor is that it uses molecularly imprinted polymers that are shaped to act like artificial reusable antibodies. This specially formed polymer is combined with materials that oxidize or reduce when in contact with human sweat and an applied voltage.
Finally, the device utilizes microfluidics. Microfluidics use a large number of microtubules less than a quarter of a millimeter wide to absorb small amounts of fluid. This allows the sensor to monitor target molecules in sweat even when the amount of liquid available is negligible.
The device has been tested with human participants in a lab setting with positive results. As a next step, Dr. Gao hopes to test the device in large-scale human studies.
Overview
A wearable noninvasive biosensor for continuous monitoring of metabolites in sweat collects sufficiently high concentrations of several analytes, usually during strenuous exercise, to generate sufficient amounts of biofluid. can be detected. Here we report the design and performance of a wearable electrochemical biosensor for continuous analysis of trace levels of multiple metabolites and nutrients, including all essential amino acids and vitamins, in sweat during exercise and at rest. The biosensor consists of graphene electrodes that can be repeatedly regenerated in situ, functionalized with molecularly imprinted polymers such as metabolite-specific antibodies and redox-active reporter nanoparticles for iontophoresis-based perspiration induction, microfluidic perspiration. Sampling, signal processing and calibration, wireless communication. In volunteers, biosensors have enabled real-time monitoring of amino acid intake and levels during physical exercise and assessment of metabolic syndrome risk (by correlating amino acid levels in serum and sweat). Monitoring metabolites for early identification of abnormal health conditions may facilitate applications in precision nutrition.
Conclusion
Given the device’s potential to measure a wide range of nutrients, metabolites, hormones, and drugs, its usefulness here is clear. The ability to monitor biological changes in real time provides researchers with extremely valuable information and may aid in follow-up studies.
Beyond clinical trials for aging interventions, such technologies could prove popular in the public health wearables market as well. Imagine being able to monitor your nutrient intake and see how things change in real time. It is useful for
The ability to continuously monitor health biomarkers in real time has nearly limitless applications, and this is an exciting development in diagnostics and biomarker monitoring.
literature
[1] Wang, M., Yang, Y., Min, J., Song, Y., Tu, J., Mukasa, D., … & Gao, W. (2022). Wearables for monitoring metabolites and nutrients Electrochemical biosensor. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 1-11.
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