(Invited) Flock -Flare Clock: Passive Sweat-Based Eczematous Flare Detection System

Abstract

Point-of-need platforms that work with sweat offer the advantage of self-monitoring for chronic diseases. Sweat based platform offer benefits in areas like comfort, functionality, and provide real time analysis of biomarker fluctuations in the body. For chronic conditions like Atopic Dermatitis, evaluating the severity of the disease on a case-by-case basis can help with providing an effective treatment plan. Sweat contains biomarkers like interleukin-31 and cortisol, which are biomarkers for atopic dermatitis (AD) and circadian disruption that is associated with the itching symptom of the disease. This portable detection technology is aimed at bridging the gap between assessing the severity of the disease and providing a patient-centric treatment plan. The research is envisioned to work as a wearable that can predict flares based on the biomarker levels and help with management of severe cases of AD, especially in pediatric populations.FLOCK (flare clock) system is a novel platform that comprises of a nanoporous membrane based multilayer stack that works with passively secreted sweat. It is designed to capture eczema severity and circadian disruption caused due to its symptoms. This is aimed to be a wearable designed for efficient management of the flaring associated with Atopic Dermatitis (AD). The work presents the development of an eczematous flare tracker that detects IL-31 and cortisol levels to create an AD management platform. The platform uses electrochemical detection for tracking these biomarkers in sweat. It is sensitive to IL-31 levels in various flare-based formulations tested through simulated sweating with a detection limit of 50 pg/mL and range 50-1000 pg/mL. On-body study highlights the ability of the wearable platform to track the rise and fall in the biomarkers’ levels. These levels are well correlated to salivary levels and commercial gold standard techniques (r>0.8, R2 >0.95).