Iranian Researchers Produce Nano Wearable Sensor to Monitor Physiological Activity
“Wearable sensors are placed directly on the skin and can monitor the physiological activities without the need for any other means. In this research, a wearable potentiometric sensor was presented for the instantaneous measurement of sodium ions in sweat samples,” Tayebeh Madrakian, a professor at Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamedan, in the Western part of Iran said.
“Measuring the amount of sodium ions is a suitable indicator for diagnosing dehydration in the body of athletes. In our studies, we used the nanostructure of Na0.44MnO2 due to its capability to interact with sodium ions. its electricity conductivity, stability and its low manufacturing cost as the active material in the construction of a wearable sensor to detect dehydration in athletes were the advantages of our method,” the Buali Sina professor added.
“In order to measure the concentration of sodium ions in the sweat samples, a wearable potentiometric sensor was made in the form of a sports headband. The sensor can transmit sodium ion concentration to a mobile phone via Bluetooth in real time. The sensor can measure sodium ion in the concentration range of 0.21 to 24.54 mM in the sweat sample, which covers the physiological range of this ion,” she continued.
According to the researcher, this wearable sensor can be used for non-invasive measurement of sodium ions in sweat for health care and disease diagnosis purposes.
Madrakian noted that the instantaneous concentration of that ion provides important physiological information about the body's function to specialists to make better decisions about treatment or nutrition.
She also argued that it is possible to commercialize the product, and due to the properties of portability, low price, high sensitivity to sodium ion, and the possibility of sending sensor results to mobile phones, commercialization of this product can help the medical industry.
“Currently, the commercialization of this product is under investigation by Bu-Ali Sina University, and Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences (BMSU), an accelerator company and one of the knowledge-based companies,” she detailed.
Dr. Madrakian further said that their sensor has several advantages over other devices among which are using potentiometric method which is easy to use as compared to the voltammetric and amperometric methods, being portable, being able to connect to a mobile phone and finally no need to take blood samples, which makes it really comfortable to the users.
4155/i
