Sweat analysis to track fitness?
Awearable sensor that analyses sweat could be a giant step forward for healthcare diagnostics and fitness tracking, according to a joint effort between the University of Cincinnati (UC) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory.
Research team leader Jason Heikenfeld from UC recently detailed the capabilities of their sweat diagnostics tool, which resembles a Band-Aid in size and flexibility, in an article for IEEE Spectrum, a science and technology magazine.
Sweat, according to Heikenfeld, contains a trove of medical information and can be the fastest, most convenient way to obtain it in cases that might otherwise require a blood test. He believes sweat can provide information about how the body reacts to medication, diet and disease and helps in tracking injury recovery, including head trauma.
Sweat diagnostics are nothing new. Doctors have been using it to determine the presence of cystic fibrosis in newborns for a long time. But a simple, wearable sweat diagnostic sensor could — using the same technology — alert athletes about electrolyte imbalances that may cause dehydration or overexertion before they happen.
If all goes well, says Heikenfeld, his team’s sensors could hit the market in low volume by 2015.