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Cracking the Code of Sweat with Wearable Aerogel Sensors

by Suat Aksu | Dec 19, 2021
Renewable Energy and Quantum Nano-technology lab .. you will be able to detect what is inside your sweat while simultaneously taking heart rate measurements and making multi-parameter correlations through a single ..

Our faculty members in the EHMB Renewable Energy and Quantum Nano-technology lab at the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics, Istanbul Technical University are developing new generation material and sensor technologies. Specifically, with their aerogel-based wearable sensors, you will be able to detect what is inside your sweat while simultaneously taking heart rate measurements and making multi-parameter correlations through a single sensor. The faculty members hope to eliminate the need for invasive procedures and blood tests by measuring the sweat rate, the ratio of electrolytes and metabolites in sweat, and Ph level as well as detect early signs of health problems such as dehydration, fatigue, depression, alcohol, kidney failure, and lung cancer with real time updates. The sensor can be imprinted on any part of the body, like a nano tattoo, and it can diagnose even sensitive diseases, such as atrial fibrillation, during excessive upper extremity movements by using artificial neural networks.  These sensor technologies could offer a new breakthrough in personalized healthcare and enable the early detection of important health problems, from cystic fibrosis to heart failure, especially in infants and children.

1. O. Ergen, “Robust atrial fibrillation monitoring utilizing graphene aerogel-based nano-tattoo.”, Materials Letters, 129525, (2021).
2. O. Ergen, E. Celik, A. H. Unal, M. H. Erdolu, F. E. Sarac, U. Unal, “Real Time Chemical and Mechanical Human Motion Monitoring with Aerogel Based Wearable Sensors”, Lab on a Chip, 20, 2689 - 2695, (2020).