New skin patches transform into wearable multi in one health monitor

Technology Daily, Beijing, February 18 (Reporter Feng Weidong) According to the latest issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering, engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a soft and elastic skin patch that can be worn around the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate, while measuring the wearer's glucose, lactate, alcohol, or caffeine content. This is the first wearable device that can simultaneously monitor central blood vessel signals and multiple biochemical indicators in the human body

Technology Daily, Beijing, February 18 (Reporter Feng Weidong) According to the latest issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering, engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a soft and elastic skin patch that can be worn around the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate, while measuring the wearer's glucose, lactate, alcohol, or caffeine content. This is the first wearable device that can simultaneously monitor central blood vessel signals and multiple biochemical indicators in the human body.

Researchers say that this wearable device is very helpful for people with underlying diseases to regularly monitor their health status. The device can benefit people with hypertension and diabetes, and can also be used to monitor the onset of septicemia. It is characterized by a sudden drop in blood pressure, accompanied by a rapid rise in lactic acid levels. Flexible skin patches will also provide more convenient alternative methods for patients in the intensive care unit, reducing the constraints of various monitors on patients.

The novelty of this skin patch lies in the use of completely different sensors and their integration into a single small platform the size of a stamp. This wearable device can collect a large amount of information and perform it in a non-invasive manner, without causing discomfort or interfering with daily activities. Researchers say that each sensor provides separate images of physical or chemical changes, all integrated into a wearable patch, allowing doctors to combine these different images and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the changes occurring in the human body.

This patch is an elastic polymer film that can adapt to the skin and is equipped with a blood pressure sensor and two chemical sensors. One chemical sensor is used to measure the levels of lactic acid, caffeine, and alcohol in sweat, and the other is used to measure the levels of glucose in tissue fluid.

The blood pressure sensor is located near the center of the patch and consists of a set of small ultrasound transducers welded to the patch using conductive ink. The voltage applied to the transducers causes them to send ultrasound into the body. When the ultrasound bounces off the artery, the sensor detects the echo and converts the signal into a blood pressure reading.

A chemical sensor consists of two electrodes, which are printed on a patch using conductive ink screen printing. On the right side of the patch is printed an electrode that can detect lactic acid, caffeine, and alcohol. Its working principle is to release a drug called pilocarpine into the skin to induce sweat and detect chemicals in sweat; Another electrode that senses glucose is printed on the left side, and its working principle is to cause a gentle electric current to pass through the skin to release tissue fluid and measure glucose in it.

The research team is currently developing an upgraded version of the skin patch, which will include more sensors, allowing for the monitoring of other biomarkers related to the disease, thereby adding more clinical value to this device. The existing patch requires sensors to be connected to a power supply and desktop machine to display their readings. The goal of the upgraded version is to place all of this content on the patch and achieve complete wireless connectivity.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is sourced from the internet. The copyright of the text, images, and other materials belongs to the original author. The platform reprints the materials for the purpose of conveying more information. The content of the article is for reference and learning only, and should not be used for commercial purposes. If it infringes on your legitimate rights and interests, please contact us promptly and we will handle it as soon as possible! We respect copyright and are committed to protecting it. Thank you for sharing.(Email:[email protected])