WEARABLE SWEAT SENSING DEVICE FOR DETECTION OF IBD BIOMARKERS

Abstract

Introduction

Inflammatory Bowel Disease affects 1.2 million in the United States. Flare-up of the disease occurs in a random way and current testing methods lack ability for real-time prediction of a flare up. The levels of cytokines elevate during a flareup. Therefore, we hypothesize that real-time monitoring of cytokine biomarkers can be useful for early detection of flare-ups and provide better patient management. In this context, sweat-based diagnostics can be promising for real-time tracking of IBD biomarkers.

Materials and Methods

A wearable SWEATSENSER was developed by functionalization of specific affinity capture probes (IL-1β, CRP antibodies) on metal/semiconducting interface deposited on a porous patch substrate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique was used to detect the interaction between the specific antibody and target analyte. The developed SWEATSENSER was tested on 20 healthy human subjects in compliance with an approved IRB at UT Dallas. Continuous on-body measurements were recorded to report IL-1β, CRP levels in sweat in real-time.

Results

In this work, a wearable multiplexed sweat sensor for detection of IL-1β, CRP in sweat has been demonstrated. The sensor demonstrates a limit of detection of 1 pg/mL with a dynamic range from 1 pg/mL- 512 pg/mL for both the biomarkers in sweat. The sweat sensor demonstrated excellent correlation with reference ELISA method (Pearson’s r ≥0.95). On-body monitoring using sweat sensor from passively perspired human sweat demonstrated a mean concentration of 28 pg/mL for IL-1β in healthy cohort.

Conclusion

A wearable sweat sensor was developed to monitor potential IBD markers in sweat. The developed device can be useful in better management of IBD patients.