Wearable sensor works without a battery

Abstract

A sticker-like wearable sensor measures glucose, chloride, and other biomarkers in sweat—without the need for a battery (Sci. Adv. 2019, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav3294). With further clinical testing, the sweat sensor may find applications in sports medicine or as a glucose monitor for people with diabetes. Researchers have been developing implantable or wearable skin-like electronics for about 15 years and have made many demonstrations of potential clinical applications. These technologies are beginning to mature, says John Rogers, a materials scientist at Northwestern University. But powering them in a user-friendly way remains challenging. Most demonstrations of wearable devices—especially those that collect biochemical data—require bulky batteries or tether the user to an external power source. The Northwestern team tackled this by developing self-powered sensing elements and a set of compact electronics to transmit data and receive power. They added these components to a disposable microfluidic sticker that passively sops up sweat on a person’s