Recent Advances in Skin-Interfaced Wearable Sweat Sensors: Opportunities for Equitable Personalized Medicine and Global Health Diagnostics

Abstract

Recent advances in skin-interfaced wearable sweat sensors enable the noninvasive, real-time monitoring of biochemical signals associated with health and wellness. These wearable platforms leverage microfluidic channels, biochemical sensors, and flexible electronics to enable the continuous analysis of sweat-based biomarkers such as electrolytes, metabolites, and hormones. As this field continues to mature, the potential of lowcost, continuous personalized health monitoring enabled by such wearable sensors holds significant promise for addressing some of the formidable obstacles to delivering comprehensive medical care in under-resourced settings. This Perspective highlights the transformative potential of wearable sweat sensing for providing equitable access to cutting-edge healthcare diagnostics, especially in remote or geographically isolated areas. It examines the current understanding of sweat composition as well as recent innovations in microfluidic device architectures and sensing strategies by showcasing emerging applications and opportunities for innovation. It concludes with a discussion on expanding the utility of wearable sweat sensors for clinically relevant health applications and opportunities for enabling equitable access to innovation to address existing health disparities.

Harvesting and manipulating sweat and interstitial fluid in microfluidic devices

“…The biomarkers in sweat and ISF inside a microfluidic platform can be quantified via multiple sensing principles, the most common ones being colorimetric and electrochemical. Such sensors have been reviewed comprehensively elsewhere 16,22,96 and will only be briefly mentioned here for convenience. Colorimetric and electrochemical sensing techniques are widely used since they are simple to implement and integrate into a microfluidic format.…”

Crafting Iron Oxides for Next-Generation Biomedical Applications

“…The development of new electrochemical sensors in the electrochemical determination of various compounds on iron oxide nanoparticles, as one of the supporting elements in electrochemical sensors, is one of the important aspects in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of disease detection systems, as summarized in Figure . Electrochemical biosensors have played a pivotal role in the analysis of biomarkers across various oncogenic applications, including the early detection of cancer and monitoring of cancer treatment outcomes and recurrence. , Notably, these biosensors seamlessly integrate with cutting-edge nanomaterial advancements, showcasing the tremendous potential to transform future practices in personalized health diagnostics and therapy. − In addition, utilizing the magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles not only supports the improved performance of electrochemical sensors but also directly supports the application of sensors in detecting disease biomarkers more accurately and responsively. The magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles are used to direct and concentrate target biomolecules on the electrode surface, thereby improving the efficiency of the detection process. , Iron oxide nanoparticles can also be used as an immobilization platform for target biomolecules, thereby facilitating the binding of disease molecules to the sensor …”

Advances in Fiber-Based Wearable Sensors for Personal Digital Health Monitoring

“…The use of electrochemical sensors to monitor biomarkers in human sweat is a common method [84][85][86]. For instance, a multifunctional textile sensor made of rGO/polyaniline (PANI) hybrid fibers can be used to monitor multiple biomarkers simultaneously [87].…”