I recently had my annual physical. As part of that, my doctor ordered a series of blood tests to measure my cholesterol, blood sugar and other biomarkers.
Now, I’m not the biggest fan of needles, and I hate having to make a special trip to a lab to get the tests done. But I grit my teeth and go through with it because I know it’s the best way to get a clear picture of my overall health.
Imagine if there was a way to get all that information without having to undergo the pain and inconvenience of a blood test. That would certainly make me (and I’m sure a lot of other people) happy!
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The biomarkers in sweat
Turns out our blood isn’t the only bodily fluid that carries biomarkers. Our sweat does, too.
Sweat contains a wide range of biological signals, and a growing body of research suggests pairing it with artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced sensor technology could give us a brand-new, non-invasive way to track our health and daily physiological changes.
A recent study by an international team of researchers explores the use of sweat for real-time assessment of hormones, medication levels and other biomarkers, as well as for early identification of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The results indicate that sweat could reveal health problems long before symptoms appear.
Progress in areas like microfluidics, stretchable electronics, and wireless communication has enabled the development of a new class of wearable sensors. These patches are lightweight and flexible, rest directly on the skin and continuously collect sweat samples.
When combined with AI, these devices may be able to identify specific metabolites and interpret complex chemical patterns. This could give users more personalized health information and an earlier warning that they may be developing various medical conditions.
“Collecting sweat is painless, simple and non-invasive,” says co-author Dr. Dayanne Bordin, an analytical chemist at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). “It’s an attractive alternative to blood or urine, especially for continuous monitoring in real time.”
“Sweat is an underused diagnostic fluid,” says co-author Dr. Janice McCauley from the UTS Faculty of Science. “The ability to measure multiple biomarkers simultaneously, and transmit that data wirelessly, provides enormous potential for preventive healthcare.”
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Advances in AI enable the technology
Bordin says anyone already interested in tracking their health using wearables such as an Apple watch would be interested in the information provided by this sort of sweat analysis.
“There are already sweat monitoring devices on the market such as the Gatorade sweat patch, which is a single-use, wearable sticker that pairs with an app to analyze your sweat rate and sodium loss, and provide tailored advice,” she says.
For example, athletes could use these sweat-measuring devices to track electrolyte loss during workouts and to demonstrate that they are drug free before competitions. And people with diabetes could eventually rely on sweat-based glucose detection rather than repeated blood tests to manage their condition.
The advances in AI help make this possible. Modern AI systems can now analyze very large datasets to connect the subtle chemical signals in sweat with specific physiological conditions.
“The year 2023 was marked by an evolutionary step in artificial intelligence, opening the door for improved pattern analysis and classification algorithms to improve diagnostic precision and therapeutic accuracy,” McCauley says.
Much of this work remains in the prototype phase for now. But industry interest in this powerful new type of health monitoring continues to increase.
The next major milestone, according to the authors, will involve pairing this analytical capability with compact, low-power devices that can send data securely.
UTS researchers are presently investigating the basic physiological characteristics of sweat and are creating microfluidic tools that can detect extremely small concentrations of biomarkers such as glucose and cortisol.
“We’re not far from a future where your wearable can tell you when you’ve got high stress hormone levels, and by monitoring this over time, whether you are at risk of chronic health conditions,” Bordin says.
Sources:
Your sweat reveals health problems long before symptoms appear — ScienceDaily
Sweat as a diagnostic biofluid: analytical advances and future directions — Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis
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