TEHRAN (FNA)-
Engineers have developed the first flexible wearable device that can monitor biochemical signals and electrical signals in the human body. The Chem-
Phys patch records ECG cardiac signals in real time and tracks the level of lactic acid, a biochemical substance that is a sign of physical effort.
The device can be worn on the chest and wirelessly communicate with a smartphone, a smart watch or a laptop.
Together with electrical engineers, Nano engineers at the University of California-San Diego wearable sensor center have worked to build the device, including a flexible set of sensors and a small electronic board.
The device can also transmit data through biochemistry and electrical signals.
Joseph Wang, professor of nanoengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and Patrick Mercier, professor of electrical engineering, led the project, and Wang's team is working on sensors and chemistry for patches, mercier's team is dedicated to electronic and data transmission.
They described chemistry.
Nature newsletter May 23.
"One of the first goals of our research is to build awesome tricolor --
"It's like a device that can continuously measure a large number of chemical, physical and electrical physiological signals throughout the day," said Mercier . ".
"This study represents an important first step that suggests this may be possible.
"Most commercial wearables measure only one signal, such as the number of steps or heart rate," Mercier said.
Almost no one measures chemical signals, such as sodium acetate.
This is the gap that researchers at the Jacob Institute of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, designed to bridge.
Comprehensive information on heart rate and lactic acid-
The first in the wearable sensor field-
It can be particularly useful for athletes who want to improve their grades.
Mercier and Wang have been asking Olympic athletes on the spot about the technology produced by the wearable sensor center.
"The ability to perceive EKG and sodium acetate in a small wearable device can provide benefits in a variety of areas," explains Dr.
Kevin Patrick, a doctor and director of the UC San Diego Center for Wireless and population health systems, was not involved in the study.
"The sports medicine community will certainly be interested in how this type of sensing can help optimize training programs for elite athletes," Patrick added . " Patrick is also a member of the wearable sensor center.
"The current ability to assess EKG and sodium acetate may also open up some interesting possibilities for preventing and/or managing individuals with cardiovascular disease.
"The biggest challenge for researchers is to ensure that the signals sent by the two sensors do not interfere with each other.
This requires some careful engineering and quite a few experiments before finding the right configuration for the sensor.
Patch-making researchers use screen printing to make patches on athin, which can be applied directly to the skin.
At the center of the patch, an electrode sensing the sodium acetate was printed, and two EKG electrodes were surrounded on the left and right sides.
Engineers iterated the patch several times to find the best distance between the electrodes, thus avoiding interference while collecting the best quality signal.
They found the distance of 4 centimeters. roughly 1. 5 inches)
Best between EKG electrodes.
The researchers must also ensure that the EKG sensor is separated from the lactic acid salt sensor.
The latter works by applying a small voltage on the electrode and measuring the current.
This current can be measured by a slightly conductive sweat, which may destroy the EKG.
So the researchers added a layer of soft water-
Reject the silicone rubber on the patch and configure it to stay away from the EKG electrode instead of the emulsion sensor.
The sensor is then connected to a small custom printed circuit board with a micro-controller and Bluetooth low-power chip that wirelessly transmits the data collected by the patch to asmartphone or computer.
The test patch was tested on three male subjects who wore the device on their chest, close to the bottom of their breastbone, while performing intense activity for 15 to 30 minutes on a stationary bike.
Two subjects also wore a heart rate monitor with a commercial wristband.
The data collected by the EKG electrode on the patch matches well with the data collected by the commercial wristband.
The data collected by the lactic acid salt biomarker closely tracks the data collected during increased intensity exercise in other studies.
The next steps include improving the way the patch and board are connected and adding sensors to other chemical markers such as magnesium and potassium, as well as other vital signs.
Doctors working with Wang and Mercier are also excited to analyze the data in both signals and understand the associations between them. [c]
2016 Fars News Agency
Copyright: Provided by SyndiGateMedia. (Syndigate. info ).