Bio-sensing textile based patch with integrated optical detection system for sweat monitoring
Morris, Deirdre, Coyle, ShirleyORCID: 0000-0003-0493-8963, Wu, Yanzhe, Lau, King-TongORCID: 0000-0001-7818-7010, Wallace, Gordon and Diamond, DermotORCID: 0000-0003-2944-4839
(2009)
Bio-sensing textile based patch with integrated optical detection system for sweat monitoring.
Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 139
(1).
pp. 231-236.
ISSN 0925-4005
Sensors, which can be integrated into clothing and used to measure biochemical changes in body fluids,
such as sweat, constitute a major advancement in the area of wearable sensors. Initial applications for
such technology exist in personal health and sports performance monitoring. However, sample collection
is a complicated matter as analysis must be done in real-time in order to obtain a useful examination
of its composition. This work outlines the development of a textile-based fluid handling platform which
uses a passive pump to gather sweat and move it through a pre-defined channel for analysis. The system
is tested both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, a pH sensor, which depends on the use of a pH sensitive dye
and paired emitter-detector LEDs to measure colour changes, has been developed. In vitro and on-body
trials have shown that the sensor has the potential to record real-time variations in sweat during exercise.