Imagine not only measuring your blood sugar level, but also knowing whether you drink too much, but also monitoring your muscle fatigue during exercise, all of which can be done in a small device worn on your skin. Now, engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed such a wearable device that can continuously monitor multiple health data such as glucose, alcohol and lactic acid levels in real time at the same time**
The device can be worn on the upper arm without affecting the wearer's daily behavior. Source: nanobioelectronics laboratory / University of California, San Diego
The researchers described the device in a paper published in nature biomedical engineering on the 9th. The device looks like about six quarters stacked together and consists of a micro needle patch similar to a Velcro attached to an electronics box. Each microneedle is about one-fifth the width of human hair. Wearing the device has no pain, because the microneedle can react with glucose, alcohol and lactic acid in the interstitial fluid of the skin with different enzymes on its top without penetrating the surface of the skin. These reactions produce tiny currents, which are analyzed by electronic sensors and sent in real time wirelessly to the Smartphone Application developed by researchers.
One advantage of using microneedle patches is that they can directly sample the skin interstitial fluid. Studies have shown that there is a good correlation between the biochemical level measured in this fluid and the level in the blood. In addition, the advantage of the device is that it is a fully integrated system that can be worn by anyone without connecting to a desktop device.
With the new wearable device, people can see the link between the rise and fall of peak blood glucose and its diet, exercise and drinking.
The microneedle patch is disposable and can be removed from the electronic box for easy replacement. The electronic housing can be reused and contains batteries, electronic sensors, wireless transmitters and other electronic components. The device can be charged on any wireless charging board used for mobile phones and smart watches.
The researchers tested the wearable device on five volunteers. The volunteers wore equipment on their upper arms while exercising, eating and drinking wine. The device continuously monitors volunteers' blood glucose levels, alcohol or lactic acid levels. The results showed that the measured blood glucose, alcohol and lactic acid levels were very close to those measured by commercial blood glucose monitor, respiratory meter and laboratory.
"It's like a complete skin lab," said Joseph Wang, a professor of Nano Engineering and co-author of the research paper and director of the wearable sensor center at the University of California, San Diego It can continuously measure multiple biomarkers at the same time, allowing users to monitor their health status during daily activities.