Soft, Skin ‐Interfaced Microfluidic Systems with Wireless, Battery‐Free Electronics for Digital, Real‐Time Tracking of Sweat Loss and Electrolyte Composition

Skin ‐interfaced soft microfluidic systems that incorporate battery‐free wireless electronic sensors allow for measurements of the loss of sweat and the concentration of electrolytes in the sweat, all in a continuous, in situ manner. Systematic studies of the operational aspects of the devices and demonstrations of their use in human field testing reveal the fundamental and practical aspects of this technology for applications ranging from sports and fitness to clinical health. AbstractSweat excretion is a dynamic physiological process that varies with body position, activity level, environmental factors, and health status. Conventional means for measuring the properties of sweat yield accurate results but their requirements for sampling and analytics do not allow for use in the field. Emerging wearable devices offer significant advantages over existing approaches, but each has significant drawbacks associated with bulk and weight, inability to quantify volumetric sweat rate and loss, robustness, and/or inadequate accuracy in biochemical analysis. This paper presents a thin, miniaturized, skin ‐interfaced microfluidic technology that includes a reusable, battery‐free electronics module for measuring sweat conductivity and rate in real‐time using wireless power from and data communication to electronic devices with capabilities in near field communications (NFC), including most smart phones. The platform exploits ultrathin electrodes integrated within a collection of...
Source: Small - Category: Nanotechnology Authors: Tags: Full Paper Source Type: research