According to a new sensing technology being developed at Simon Fraser University, the sweat of our body could give a lot of information about our state of health.
For this reason, it is developing a low-cost 3D printed portable sweat sensor. The research is carried out at SFU’s Additive Manufacturing Laboratory in collaboration with researchers from Zhejiang University.
Sensor innovation
Innovation in technology design over the past decade has seen the rapid development of wearable sensors, including sweat sensors. These wearable sensors can assess an individual’s health by analyzing the chemicals and other health information contained in sweat.
Unlike collecting and analyzing other biofluids such as saliva or blood, the method is non-invasive and requires no assistance. These sweat sensors can monitor human biochemical information during exercise, including ions or lactate levels, that can serve as indicators of hydration and general physiological and psychological well-being. The data collected can also play a role in evaluating various health factors, including stress and nutrition.
While there is a growing range of inexpensive wearable sensors that can collect and analyze sweat to assess a person’s health, the 3D printable model of this new development integrates mechanically flexible electrochemical sensors and wireless communication functions.
Typically, the sensors can be attached to the skin using a flexible material such as foam, cloth, flexible plastic, or rubber, and ideally powered by wireless chargers.
Sweat metabolites can provide important information that can be used effectively to assess the general health of the user. However, sensor developments warn that more research is needed. to check the correlation between sweat and blood information, using in vivo validation tests to advance meaningful biomedical applications.