Wearable sweat sensors have emerged as attractive platforms for non-invasive health monitoring. While most sweat sensors have relied on exercise or chemical stimulation to generate sweat, natural thermoregulatory sweat is an attractive alternative as it can be accessed during routine and even sedentary activity without impeding user lifestyles, while also potentially preserving correlations between sweat and blood biomarkers. For rapid accumulation of natural sweat that enables quick, single-point measurement of sweat analytes, we develop a simple, skin-attachable sensing platform to capture natural sweat with minimal evaporation. This platform takes advantage of high sweat gland densities on the hand to collect 100’s of µL in just 30 min for sweat composition analysis. For precise continuous tracking of sweat composition and secretion rate, we develop a second platform consisting of a microfluidic patch that can be worn at diverse body sites. The patch uses a nano-textured or microstructured fillers to eliminate dead space in the sweat accumulation well, reducing temporal overheads for rapid measurement of small volumes and flow rates of natural sweat. In addition, this platform is available for continuous and long-term monitoring of various sweat compositions, providing an opportunity as substitutes for the conventional invasive medical/healthcare monitoring devices.
Project ended: 08/01/2023