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A team of researchers in the Northwest have developed a soft, flexible, skin-like device that can measure chloride levels in a patient’s sweat for a better diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.
A research team led by Northwestern Engineering has developed a new skin-mounted sticker that absorbs sweat and then changes color to provide an accurate, easy-to-read diagnosis of cystic fibrosis within minutes.
Although measuring chloride levels in sweat to diagnose cystic fibrosis is standard, the soft, flexible, and skin-like “sweat sticker” offers a stark contrast to current diagnostic technologies, which require a rigid device. , voluminous and attached to the wrist to collect sweat.
After developing the sweat sticker at Northwestern, the researchers validated it in pilot clinical studies involving cystic fibrosis patients and healthy volunteers at the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Ann & Robert H Children’s Hospital. .Lurie of Chicago. The sticker showed improved performance in terms of sweat volume collected and accuracy equivalent to traditional rigs.
The research and study results were published on March 31 as a cover article in the journal Science Translational medicine.
By gently adhering to the body, the millimeter thick sticker makes direct but gentle contact with the skin without harsh adhesives. Not only does this make the sticker more comfortable and unnoticeable to the wearer, but this intimate coupling also allows the sticker to collect 33% more sweat than current clinical methods. The high collection rate ensures that a test will consistently collect a sample large enough to provide an accurate result.
The sticker also features built-in color sensors that detect, measure and analyze chloride concentration in real time using a smartphone camera, avoiding the need for expensive lab equipment and excruciating wait times. . This opens up possibilities for testing outside of home hospitals, which could provide relief to parents in rural or low-income areas without access to clinical centers with specialized diagnostic tools.
Bio-integrated electronics pioneer John A. Rogers led the development of the device. Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at the McCormick School of Engineering and the Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics ( QSIB). Tyler Ray, who was a postdoctoral researcher at the Rogers Lab at the time of the research, is the first author of the article. He is now an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi in Mānoa.
Sweat collecting challenges
The most common life-shortening genetic disease, cystic fibrosis affects one in 3,300 births in the United States and 70,000 people worldwide. Promising results depend entirely on early diagnosis. Because the disease attacks the digestive system, patients can become severely malnourished if they do not receive treatment soon after birth.
All newborns are screened for cystic fibrosis in the first days of life with a heel prick. If this screen is abnormal, pediatricians order a sweat test to confirm the diagnosis. During the sweat test, the baby should wear the device hard and strapped to the wrist for up to 30 minutes. Sometimes smaller babies have trouble producing enough sweat for the test. Other times, the loose and ill-fitting sweat collection device is unable to collect a sufficiently large sample. In these cases, the baby has to repeat the test at a later date, which induces anxiety and delays treatment.
“Some parents bring their babies for a test and are sent home without a confirmed result because the device was unable to collect enough sweat,” said Susanna McColley, study co-author, cystic fibrosis expert. and pediatric pulmonologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern Medicine. “They go home, not knowing whether their baby has serious illness or not, and their baby cannot start treatment yet. It can be scary.
Unexpected collaboration
As the former director of Lurie Children’s Clinical Chemistry Lab, Shannon Haymond has witnessed this scenario all too often. Due to the improper fit and tightness of the rigid collection devices on the arms of small infants, many families have experienced delayed findings and diagnoses.
In the fall of 2016, the Rogers Lab introduced a flexible skin sensor that could collect and analyze sweat in real time for health monitoring. After reading the article, Haymond immediately saw the potential of the new device for cystic fibrosis.
“Many labs have encountered problems caused by current collection methods, making them a frequent focus of quality improvement efforts,” said Haymond, study co-author and vice president of the computational biology and director of mass spectrometry at Lurie Children’s. “I thought the flexible skin sensors could simplify the process and improve the results of the collection. And because the sweat stickers are disposable and designed for one-time use, they have the added benefit of preventing infections. “
Real time results
By incorporating detection capabilities into the sticker, the Northwest team offers potential for faster diagnosis. Users can simply take a photo of the sweat-filled sticker and wirelessly transmit it to a clinic for quick analysis, alleviating diagnostic delays and allowing patients to begin treatment as soon as possible.
“The device uses a network of microfluidic channels to collect sweat directly from the skin and route it to chambers to react with chemical reagents,” Ray said. “These reagents cause a color change that matches the level of chloride concentration. By collecting and analyzing sweat at the point of collection, we can enable earlier diagnosis. This is essential for preventing serious complications and improving long term patient outcomes. “
Routine monitoring from anywhere
Next, the team thinks its sweat sticker could be used to regularly monitor the long-term health status of patients with cystic fibrosis and assess their response to treatment. If the sticker detects a change in chloride levels, for example, it could inform a doctor’s treatment plan.
“Because this device is unattached, we plan to use it beyond clinical environments,” said study co-author Roozbeh Ghaffari, associate research professor in biomedical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and director of translational research at QSIB. “In light of these new capabilities and further clinical validation, cystic fibrosis patients receiving treatment may one day use the at-home sweat sticker to track their symptoms and hydration level throughout. daily life.”
Add joy to the clinic
During clinical trials at Lurie Children’s, McColley noticed how much kids love sweat stickers, especially compared to traditional sweat tests.
“Kids love stickers,” she says. “The sweaty stickers made them smile and laugh. It’s a much easier, more comfortable, and even fun device to wear. “
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