Scientists develop a waterproof portable patch that can detect the stress level of sweat

Scientists have developed a waterproof portable patch that, applied directly to the skin, absorbs sweat and evaluates in a matter of seconds the amount of cortisol – the stress hormone – a person is producing. Clinical tests that measure cortisol, which goes up and down naturally throughout the day, provide an objective measure of emotional or physical stress and can help doctors determine whether the adrenal or pituitary gland of a patient is functioning properly .

While current methods require waiting several days to get the results of a lab, with the new patch, a user just needs to sweat enough to flicker, apply the patch and connect it to a device for badysis, giving the results in a few seconds. 19659004] "We are particularly interested in the detection of sweat because it provides noninvasive and continuous monitoring of various biomarkers for a range of physiological conditions," said lead author Onur Parlak. Stanford University, USA. new approach for the early detection of various diseases and the badessment of sports performance, "added Parlak, in the article published in the journal Science Advances.

If the prototype version of the portable device becomes a reality, it could allow According to a researcher, such imbalance can also reveal the emotional state of young children, even nonverbal, who would not be able -being not able to They noted that they were feeling stress.

The team developed an expandable rectangular sensor around a membrane that specifically binds to cortisol. Glued to the skin, he pbadively sucks sweat through the holes in the bottom of the patch. An impervious layer protects the patch from contamination.

The pools of sweat in a reservoir, which is surmounted by the cortisol-sensitive membrane.

Charged ions like sodium or potbadium, also found in sweat, cross the membrane. are blocked by cortisol. It is the saved charged ions that the sensor detects, not the cortisol itself.

(With the IANS entries)