Chapter 14 - Sweat-based screening of biomarkers using an enzymatic bioelectrocatalytic approach

Abstract

Sweat contains a variety of biomarkers, including ionic species and biochemicals such as peptides, hormones, proteins, and small molecules, which may be used to assess overall health and track the development of disease. Due to its noninvasive sample collection, a sweat-based point-of-care diagnostic approach is recently emerging as an alternative strategy for real-time investigation of perspiration biosensors toward life style-associated clinical complications. This chapter will discuss the physiological properties of sweat and its biorecognition at the skin’s surface using an electrode, including the market potential. The production of sweat and its relationship to other body fluids containing metabolites, proteins, and minerals is described in the first section. Components of a sweat biosensor including a biomarker and the construction of enzyme–electrode interface are also highlighted. Secondly, the most cutting-edge applications of wearable sweat biosensors for indoor/outdoor monitoring are reviewed. Finally, the challenges and opportunities in the integration of bioreceptors on the electrode interface toward a perspiration sensor platform targeting the novel biomarkers relevant to the field of self-powered implantable or wearable sweat observation methods are presented.