An epidermal patch for the simultaneous monitoring of haemodynamic and metabolic biomarkers.

Andre N De Loyola Silva,Kexin Pei,Ernesto De La Paz,Lu Yin,Thitaporn Sonsa-Ard,Joseph Wang,Fangyu Zhang,Nicholas Tostado,Muyang Lin,Ahmed A Khorshed,Sheng Xu,Juliane R Sempionatto

doi:10.1038/s41551-021-00685-1

Andre N De Loyola Silva, Kexin Pei + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-021-00685-1

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Abstract

Monitoring the effects of daily activities on the physiological responses of the body calls for wearable devices that can simultaneously track metabolic and haemodynamic parameters. Here we describe a non-invasive skin-worn device for the simultaneous monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate via ultrasonic transducers and of multiple biomarkers via electrochemical sensors. We optimized the integrated device so that it provides mechanical resiliency and flexibility while conforming to curved skin surfaces, and to ensure reliable sensing of glucose in interstitial fluid and of lactate, caffeine and alcohol in sweat, without crosstalk between the individual sensors. In human volunteers, the device captured physiological effects of food intake and exercise, in particular the production of glucose after food digestion, the consumption of glucose via glycolysis, and increases in blood pressure and heart rate compensating for oxygen depletion and lactate generation. Continuous and simultaneous acoustic and electrochemical sensing via integrated wearable devices should enrich the understanding of the body's response to daily activities, and could facilitate the early prediction of abnormal physiological changes.

Highlights

Monitoring the effects of daily activities on the physiological responses of the body calls for wearable devices that can simultaneously track metabolic and haemodynamic parameters
Parallel blood pressure (BP)–chemical sensing could have clinical value, especially for people with underlying health conditions—such as the elderly or individuals who are obese, or those affected by diabetes and cardiovascular diseases—as their physiological response to normal day-to-day activities might differ from healthy individuals
The prevention, diagnosis and treatment of many diseases can benefit greatly from simultaneous monitoring of cardiovascular parameters and biomarker levels. These include acute and deadly septic shock, which commonly involves a sudden drop in BP accompanied by rapidly increasing blood-lactate levels[20], and hypoglycaemia- or hyperglycaemia-induced hypotension or hypertension, which increase the risk of stroke, cardiac diseases, retinopathy and nephropathy in patients with diabetes[21,22,23,24]

Summary

Introduction

Monitoring the effects of daily activities on the physiological responses of the body calls for wearable devices that can simultaneously track metabolic and haemodynamic parameters. The bare and enzyme-modified electrochemical sensors were evaluated in vitro while stretched in two directions (horizontal and vertical), and the BP device was evaluated while capturing the BP signal when turning the neck 90° to the side; the glucose response did not change during or after 100 stretching cycles, and no changes were observed in the BP waveform while turning the neck

Results

Conclusion