A new smart necklace can measure several chemicals in the body using a small sweat sample from the wearer. This life-changing technology could help 400 million diabetics worldwide monitor their health without the need for finger-pricking blood tests.

AZO Sensors reported that the smart necklace has a clasp and pendant with biochemical sensors installed on the back so that when placed around the neck, it could capture the sweat and analyze glucose, serotonin, sodium, potassium, and hydrogen levels in the sweat.

Smart Necklace Can Track Wearer's Health Status With 98.9% Accuracy Using Their Sweat, Eliminating Blood Tests for Diabetics
(Photo : Pixabay/Nika_Akin)
Smart Necklace Can Track Wearer's Health Status With 98.9% Accuracy Using Their Sweat, Eliminating Blood Tests for Diabetics

Wireless, Battery-Free Biochemical Sensor

Scientists from the Ohio State University recently presented the smart necklace, a wireless, battery-free biochemical sensor that detects concentrations of chemicals in the body when released from the skin that serves as biomarkers that indicate biological processes.

According to News Medical Life Sciences, biomarkers are short for biological markers that are objectively measured and evaluated to track a person's health status. It also tells the pathogenic processes and pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention.

Researchers designed the smart necklace to have a working clasp and pendant worn around the neck to track glucose levels as participants exercised. The device reflects radio frequency signals from an external reader system that allows it to function without a battery.

In the experiment to test whether the device works, participants were asked to cycle for at least 30 minutes with a 15-minute rest and then another round of cycling after consuming sugar-sweetened drinks.

Co-author Jinghua Li, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at OSU, explained the challenge was whether the biosensors in their smart necklace would detect the rise of glucose levels in the sweat after the participants consumed sugar-sweetened drinks.

They found that it effectively measured the increased glucose levels with a 98.9% accuracy based on the data they gathered, indicating that it could detect other chemicals besides glucose.

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Plans for Making Bioimplant Versions

Li noted that it would take some time before the study's prototype becomes available to the public, but there are plans to make bioimplant versions that can detect neurotransmitters and hormones aside from sweat composition, MailOnline reported.

Through their study, the researchers learned to use ultra-thin sensors instead of the bulky and rigid computer chips found in smartphones and laptops. Their design makes the smart necklace flexible and, at the same time, protects the functionality of the device while ensuring that it can safely be used on human skin.

Their next step would be to miniaturize the technology further and make it more feasible to become implantable. For now, the lightweight device with simple circuit layouts can be easily integrated into anyone's everyday lives with the potential of monitoring one's health, especially those with diabetes, easier.

The device developed by engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the start-up company Xsenso is fully described in the paper titled "Battery-Free, Tuning Circuit-Inspired Wireless Sensor Systems for Detection of Multiple Biomarkers in Bodily Fluids," published in Science Advances.

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