Wearable Healthcare Monitoring Based on a Microfluidic Electrochemical Integrated Device for Sensing Glucose in Natural Sweat

Wearable sweat sensors offer the possibility of continuous real-time health monitoring of an individual at a low cost without invasion. A variety of sweat glucose sensors have been developed thus far to help diabetes patients frequently monitor blood glucose levels through sweat glucose as a surrogate marker. The present study demonstrates the development and characterization of a three-dimensional paper-based microfluidic electrochemical integrated device (3D PMED) for measuring glucose concentration in sweat in real-time via simple, non-invasive, capillary-action-based sample collection. The device was selective for glucose, and it detected glucose accurately in the clinically relevant range (0 similar to 2 mM) in an off-body setup. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time NEXAR (TM) has been used for biosensing applications. Further, the developed glucose sensor has acceptable sensitivity of 16.8 mu A/mM/cm(2). Importantly, in an on-body setup, the device achieved a significant amperometric response to sweat glucose in a very short amount of time (a few seconds). With detailed investigations, this proof-of-concept study could help further the development of sensitive and selective sweat-based glucose sensing devices for real-time glucose monitoring in diabetes patients.

Automated summary

In this study, a three-dimensional paper-based microfluidic electrochemical integrated device (3D PMED) was developed for real-time measurement of glucose concentration in sweat. The device exhibited selectivity and high sensitivity, and it achieved a rapid response to sweat glucose in an on-body setup.