Non-invasive Continuous Hydration Monitoring

描述（由申请方提供）：脱水的适当治疗方案要求准确评估液体不足并逐步纠正该不足。为此，皮肤肿胀测试（a.k.a.“皮肤挤压试验”）被广泛地进行以评估流体损失或脱水的程度。在许多研究中发现，这种高度主观的测试在除最严重的情况外的所有情况下都是脱水的不准确测量，因此不适合评估总体水合状态。或者，能够测量皮肤电反应（GSR）的新技术已经导致能够量化穿戴者的相对水合水平的可穿戴设备的展示。然而，人们普遍认识到， 这也是高度不准确的水合测量，因为测量容易被交感神经系统反应、脂肪组织的量、温度、湿度和角质层本身的水合所混淆，这可能被年龄以及各种局部乳膏和软膏所扭曲。本项目旨在通过开发非侵入性水化传感贴片来解决传统水化监测技术的上述局限性。拟议的设备利用我们团队在电化学，丝网印刷，导电聚合物和表面功能化方面的最新创新，以无创，无痛的方式提供循环钠水平的实时曲线，从而大大改善老年人群的临床结果。该研究项目的预期成果包括：（1）开发含有钠离子选择层的表皮粘附生物传感器，以及（2）采用高通量，低成本丝网印刷方法制造所述钠生物传感器的能力。这凝聚了印刷电极的功能化的创新技术，并依赖于与电化学转导的新方法有关的离子选择性膜的发展。这种表皮生物传感器平台的显著特征包括高灵敏度、稳定性、选择性、简单性、多功能性和鲁棒性，其价格适合于广泛的医疗保健采用。这种模式使个人能够采取积极措施，以评估他们的水化在他们的日常生活，从而减少住院的可能性，由于高钠性脱水。除了向佩戴者提供实时反馈外，这种独特的方法还可以利用无线基础设施将数据中继给医疗保健提供者进行审查、趋势分析和存档。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The appropriate treatment regimen for dehydration mandates the accurate assessment of fluid deficit and the gradual correction of that deficit. To this end, the skin turgor test (a.k.a. the "skin pinch test") is widely performed to assess the degree of fluid loss or dehydration. This highly subjective test has been found, in numerous studies, to be an inaccurate measure of dehydration in all but the most severe cases and hence is not suitable for assessing overall hydration status. Alternatively, new techniques able to measure the galvanic skin response (GSR) have resulted in the demonstration of wearable devices able to quantify the relative hydration level of the wearer. However, it is widely realized that this, too, is a highly inaccurate measure of hydration as the measurement is easily confounded by the sympathetic nervous system response, amount of adipose tissue, temperature, humidity, and hydration of the stratum corneum itself, which can be skewed by age as well as various topical creams and ointments. This project aims to address the above limitations of conventional hydration monitoring techniques via the development of a non-invasive hydration-sensing patch. The proposed device leverages our team's latest innovations in electrochemistry, screen printing, conducting polymers, and surface functionalization to tender the real-time profile of circulating sodium levels in a non-invasive, pain-free fashion, thereby leading to substantially improved clinical outcomes among the elderly population. Expected outcomes from this research project include: (1) the development of epidermal adhesive biosensors containing a sodium ion-selective layer and (2) the ability to fabricate the said sodium biosensors employing high-throughput, low-cost screen-printing methods. This agglomerates innovative techniques for the functionalization of the printed electrode contingent and relies on the development of ion-selective membranes in connection with novel methods of electrochemical transduction. The salient features of this epidermal biosensor platform include high sensitivity, stability, selectivity, simplicity, versatility, and robustness at a price that i amenable to widespread healthcare adoption. This paradigm enables the individual to take proactive measures to assess their hydration throughout their daily routine, thereby mitigating the likelihood of hospital admission due to hypernatremic dehydration. In addition to tendering real-time feedback to the wearer, this unique approach can leverage the wireless infrastructure to relay the data to the healthcare provider for review, trending, and archiving.