- Grave e-tattoos are portable biosputors that stick directly to the skin
- Researchers are now developing patches that can read sweaty compounds
- These could indicate a range of conditions, as well as stress detection
Invisible sweat sensors could one day be used to detect health problems. It is according to current research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where a laboratory develops stick graphene tattoos that can read and report what is in your sweat.
We have already heard that portables have the potential to revolutionize health surveillance. Developed for the first time by a team from the Northwestern University, these electronic skin fixes are made using graphene. Less than a millimeter thick, they are practically invisible and can bend with the skin. In the years to come, the idea is that we could carry these patches for real -time readings 24 hours a day.
Until now, the main objective of scientists has been how to use these biosputors to measure heart rate and blood pressure – the two key markers of potential health complications. However, the next generation of these patches could obtain data from a different bodily source: sweat.
Sweating little things
In 2017, researchers from the University of Texas created an even thinner version of a graphene biosputor. Whoever was applied to the skin by wetting a sheet of transfer paper – just like a temporary tattoo. Using e-tattoos like this, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are now trying to exploit the secrets of sweat.
According to Dmitry Kireev, member of this team, perspiration carries certain compounds out of the body and on the skin. The team’s first objective is cortisol, a stress indicator, the risk of stroke and a number of other disorders.
Supervision of sweat is not a new prosecution. Several laboratories work on stick fixes that do this. Some change color when certain chemicals are present, while others are attached to large electrochemical sensors. Both require rooms to collect sweat. What makes the graphene e -tattoos so exciting is that they do not – making them much smaller.
In simple terms, the graphene itself is used as a transistor. When a certain sweaty substance meets molecules on the surface of the graphene, an electrical signal is produced. Thanks to changes in the resistance of the transistor, the quantity of this substance is reported.
On the line, hope is that these tattoos and graphene can be used to detect other sweaty compounds, including glucose, lactate and estrogen. In theory, these could be used to indicate potential health problems.
Carried as a lifestyle accessory, e-tattoos could act as early indicators of certain conditions or simply as an additional data source to supply the best fitness applications. In a medical scenario, biosputors could provide real -time data without needing blood tests.
Everything is intelligent, but the portable future is always a means. For the moment, graphene e -tattoos must still be wired to an electronic circuit with a computer chip – although tiny – to transmit data from sweat. This means that they are not yet the flexible and invisible future for health care.
To reach this stage, researchers will have to create fully integrated circuits using graphene, including food sources and wireless transmitters. This process will probably require blood and tears, in addition to perspiration. However, in the next decade, Kireev predicts that we will see e-tattoos of sweat detection integrated into the best smart watches.
