Monitoring your health with Sweatronics wearable

During a recent press tour of the Cincinnati area, Eccrine Systems presented its “Sweatronics” technology, which facilitates the collection and analysis of sweat via a custom-designed wearable.

While we typically associate sweat monitoring with health factors like hydration and electrolyte balance, it’s actually full of hormones, proteins, and ions. Each person’s sweat composition profile is unique, so much so that one group out of SUNY Albany was able to identify individuals in a research study based exclusively on their sweat.

The broad variety of biomarkers contained in sweat opens up many potential health monitoring applications: stress, fertility, metabolism, and infections, to name a few.

The Sweatronics system, which had its origins as a project for the United States Air Force, consists of a module worn around the arm. The module consists of a sweat collection unit that makes contact with the skin, as well as the integrated sensor and electronics.

Dr. Gavi Begtrup, Eccrine’s CEO, shared that the sweat collection unit was a significant engineering challenge in itself: not only did the design have to effectively collect small amounts of fluid, but the fluids had to be isolated so things from the outside wouldn’t affect the sensors.

The fluids also have to be continuously moving through the sensors to reflect the body’s current state and not pool and intermix with old sweat.

Once the sweat reaches the sensors, it uses electrochemical aptamer-based technology, which essentially involves DNA binding to select biomarkers to quantify a target of choice. The data from the sensors can then be sent via a wireless connection to a remote system, such as a smartphone app.

One of the company’s first planned applications will be industrial labour. These jobs often involve hours of standing and heavy lifting, exposure to dangerous conditions, and high stress.

The use of the Sweatronics system will help ensure that workers are not overworked and stay safe on the factory floor. Begtrup shared that as the technology becomes clinically validated and FDA approved, the company will be looking into several potential medical applications.