Tiny Sensor Can Obtain Information About What's Spreading in the Body to Alleviate Bipolar, Depression Symptoms

Scientists recently reported the invention of a small sensor that can detect lithium levels of sweat on a fingertip's surface in as brief as 30 seconds, minus a trip to the clinic.

As specified in a EurekAlert! report that lithium can ease depression and bipolar disorder symptoms if taken in only the right amount. Too little will not work, while too much can bring hazardous side effects.

To accurately monitor the amount of such a medication in the body, patients need to undergo invasive blood tests.

Not only must lithium be taken at a specific dosage, but patients frequently struggle to take it as prescribed and may miss taking pills.

Turning to Body Fluid Like Sweat

Consequently, when the medication does not seem effective, health care providers should know the amount of medication a patient is swallowing.

However, present options for monitoring have substantial drawbacks. For instance, blood draws produce accurate results, although they are invasive, not to mention time-consuming.

Meanwhile, pill counters do not directly count the intake of medication. To address such limitations, the researchers turned to another body fluid.

A related Bioengineer.org report said according to postgraduate student researcher Shuyu Lin, Ph.D., who is co-presenting the work with Jialun Zhu, a graduate student at the 2022 fall meeting of the American Chemical Society or ACS, even though it may be visible, the human body "constantly produces sweat," frequently only in a very small amount.

The presenters said tiny molecules derived from medication which includes lithium, appear in that sweat. They recognize this as an opportunity of developing a new sensor type that would identify such molecules.

Water-Based Gel Containing Glycerol Engineered

The project's principal investigator, Sam Emaminejad, Ph.D., at the University of California, Los Angeles, explained that the newly developed device could obtain clinically useful molecular-level information about what is spreading in the body through a single touch.

As indicated in a related Newswise report, the principal investigator said they are already interacting with a lot of touch-based electronics, like smartphones and keyboards, and thus, such a sensor could incorporate seamlessly into everyday life.

Developing a sensor to detect lithium demonstrated some technical problems, though. Sweat, in general, only exists in small amounts, but the electrochemical sensing needed to detect the lithium's charged particles required "an aqueous, or watery environment," the similar report specified.

The research team engineered a water-based gel containing glycerol to provide it. This added ingredient prevented the gel from dying out and produced a controlled environment for the sensor's electronic portion.

Lithium-Detecting Tiny Sensor

The study authors used this difference to infer the lithium concentration in sweat. Together, such components contain a small, rectangular sensor that is tinier than the head of a thumbtack and can detect lithium in approximately 30 seconds.

The sensor remains in the preliminary testing state, although eventually, the research team visualizes integrating it into a larger yet-to-be-designed system that offers visual feedback to the patient or health provider.

After characterizing the sensor through the use of an artificial fingertip, the researchers recruited actual humans to test their invention, which included a single person on a lithium treatment regimen.

Related information about sensors used in medical treatment is shown on Alberta Health Services' YouTube video below:

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