Philipp Gutruf publishes study on longer-lasting wearables
The Gutruf Lab's wearable device provides personalized health data without the constraints of adhesives and frequent reapplication.
A University of Arizona study, published in Nature Communications on May 10, describes a longer-lasting, 3D-printed, adhesive-free wearable capable of providing a more comprehensive picture of a user's physiological state.
The device, which measures water vapor and skin emissions of gases, continuously tracks and logs physiological data associated with dehydration, metabolic shifts and stress levels.
"Wearable health monitoring traditionally depends on sensors that directly attach to the skin, but the skin itself constantly renews," said Philipp Gutruf, an associate professor of BME and member of the BIO5 Institute at the U of A who co-authored the study with lead author David Clausen, a doctoral student and researcher in the Gutruf Lab.
"This limits how long you can collect reliable data. With our sensor that tracks gaseous emissions from the skin, we overcome this constraint entirely," Gutruf said.
Unlike adhesive-based sports science and health monitoring wearables, which historically only record snapshots, the device developed by Gutruf and his colleagues delivers continuous, real-time data viewable on a smartphone or computer via secure Bluetooth.
"This opens an entirely new space of biomarkers," said Gutruf. "Previously, measurements of this kind required an entire room of equipment."