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Jason Heikenfeld on sweat-based biometric monitoring | ApplySci @ Stanford

University of Cincinnati and Eccrine Systems‘ Jason Heikenfeld discussed sweat-based biometric monitoring at ApplySci’s recent Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at Stanford:

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda –Marom Bikson – Sean Lane

Just announced:  Ed Simcox, CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services, will be the closing speaker at ApplySci’s Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018

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Wearable sweat sensor measures cortisol levels

Stanford’s Alberto Salleo has created a  patch that continuously monitors cortisol levels in sweat.  Potential uses include sports performance measurement, early disease detection, adrenal and pituitary gland monitoring, and evaluating the emotional state of young or non verbal patients.

Cortisol influences emotional stress, blood pressure, metabolism, immune response and and memory formation.

The stretchy, rectangular sensor is wrapped around a membrane that specifically binds only to cortisol. It absorbs sweat through holes in the bottom. Sweat pools in a reservoir, topped by the cortisol-sensitive membrane. Charged ions pass through the membrane unless they are blocked by cortisol. The sensor detects the backed up charged ions. The top  waterproof layer protects the patch from contamination.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda –Marom Bikson

Just announced:  Ed Simcox, CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services, will be the closing speaker at ApplySci’s Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 27th

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Wearable acoustic sensors track fetal cardiac activity, skeletal development

Acoustic sensors are increasingly used in monitoring fetal health.

Imperial College’s Niamh Nowlan is using low cost, non-transmitting accelerometers and acoustic sensors to continuously track fetal movement to understand skeletal development. Acoustic sensors enable discrimination between the movement of the fetus and mother.

Israel’s Nuvo Group is continuously monitoring fetal cardiac activity using acoustic sensors and ECG (to track both sound and electrical activity) in a wearable baby belt.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

Just announced:  Ed Simcox, CTO of the US Department of Health and Human Services, will be the closing speaker at ApplySci’s Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 20th

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Gait sensor predicts senior falls

University of Illinois professors Bruce Schatz and David Buchner have developed a system to predict senior fall risk using motion sensors that measure walking patterns.

67 women over 60 were tested on walking ability,  detailed past annual falls, and wore an accelerometer for one week.

The analysis of device data and reported history enabled the researchers to accurately predict falls based on unsteadiness in standing and walking.

The goal is prevention — encouraging  those who know that they are at risk, and their physicians, to focus on strength and balance exercises.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 20th

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Sensor assesses blood clotting in 30 minutes

ClotChip assesses  blood clotting 95 times faster than current methods, with a single single drop of blood, using miniaturized dielectric spectroscopy.

A finger-prick sample is taken from heart arrhythmia, pulmonary embolism, post surgery, or  hemophilia patients, to analyze clotting abilities in the ER or at home.  Results are received in 30 minutes.

Caregivers currently cannot quickly assess if a patient with coagulation issues is at risk for spontaneous bleeding, or if the drugs they are taking are effective.

The company is completing clinical trials for use in hemophilia and anticoagulation therapy.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 20th

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Eye implant measures pressure, releases fluid, in glaucoma

Caltech’s Azita Emami, Aubrey Shapero, Abhinav Agarwal and colleagues have developed a miniaturized, fully wireless, highly-sensitive, implantable, continuous pressure sensor that can remain in the human eye for four years.  The goal is early detection and treatment of glaucoma progression.

Current tonometer measurement, which requires anesthesia, only measures pressure during an appointment, and can miss many daily pressure fluctuations.

The device is implanted on the white of the eye and does not interfere with vision. It consists of a pressure sensor, control circuitry, and an antenna. With no battery, it small and long lasting. Radio waves from a handheld scanner are received by the antenna and generate a small voltage that temporarily powers the device, which then takes a pressure reading and sends the signal back to the reader, using the same antenna.

Encapsulation with liquid silicone and a polymer called parylene allowed the researchers to overcome the impact of fluid corrosion and tissue growth.  This is what enables the implant to remain in the eye much longer than previous devices.

A valve could also be added to release small amounts of fluid as tears, when pressure rises too high, creating a closed-loop glaucoma management system.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JULY 6th

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Cheap, molecular-wired, metabolite-measuring sensor

Cambridge’s Anna-Maria Pappa, KAUST’s Sahika Inal, and colleagues have developed a low cost, molecular wired sensor that can measure metabolites in sweat, tears, saliva or blood.  It can be incorporated into flexible and stretchable substrates for cellular-level health monitoring.

A synthesised polymer acts as a molecular wire, accepting electrons produced during electrochemical reactions. It merges with sweat, tears or blood, absorbing ions and swelling, leading to high sensitivity.  The signal can be amplified when incorporated into complex circuits, responding to tiny fluctuations in metabolite concentration.

According to Pappa: “This is the first time that it’s been possible to use an electron accepting polymer that can be tailored to improve communication with the enzymes, which allows for the direct detection of a metabolite. It opens up new directions in biosensing, where materials can be designed to interact with a specific metabolite, resulting in far more sensitive and selective sensors.”

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JUNE 29TH

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Tony Chahine on human presence, reimagined | ApplySci @ Stanford

Myant‘s Tony Chahine reimagined human presence at ApplySci’s recent Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech conference at Stanford:

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Rudy Tanzi – Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda – Marom Bikson

REGISTRATION RATES INCREASE JUNE 29TH

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“Artificial nerve” system for sensory prosthetics, robots

Stanford’s  Zhenan Bao has developed an artificial sensory nerve system that can activate the twitch reflex in a cockroach and identify letters in the Braille alphabet. Bao describes it as “a step toward making skin-like sensory neural networks for all sorts of applications”  which would include artificial skin that creates a sense of touch in prosthetics.

The artificial nerve circuit integrates three components:

  • A touch sensor that can detect minuscule forces.
  • A flexible electronic neuron which receives signals from the touch sensor.
  • An artificial synaptic transistor modeled after human synapses which is stimulated by theses sensory signals.

The system was successfully tested to generate both reflexes and a sense touch. The team  also hopes to create low-power, artificial sensor nets to cover robots, to provide feedback that makes them more agile.

Click to view Science video

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum – Phillip Alvelda

Join Apply Sci at the 10th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Silicon Valley conference on February 21-22, 2019 at Stanford University.  Zhenan Bao will be the keynote speaker.

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Body heat-powered, self-repairing health sensor system

Hossam Haick at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has developed a body heat powered, self-repairing system of sensors for disease detection and monitoring.

Unlike other wearables, the ability to derive energy from the wearer,  and to fix tears and scratches, prevents the need to turn off the device for repair or charging, allowing truly continuous tracking.

Join ApplySci at the 9th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Boston conference on September 24, 2018 at the MIT Media Lab.  Speakers include:  Mary Lou Jepsen – George Church – Roz Picard – Nathan Intrator – Keith Johnson – Juan Enriquez – John Mattison – Roozbeh Ghaffari – Poppy Crum