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Sweat-powered finger wrap tracks glucose, vitamins, drug levels in your body | The device operates using biofuel cells positioned where it contacts the fingertip, which efficiently collect and convert chemicals in sweat into electricity.


The device fits around the finger, drawing power from an unexpected source, the very substance it analyzes for biomarkers: fingertip sweat.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an electronic finger wrap that can monitor vital chemical levels, such as glucose, vitamins, and even drugs, directly from fingertip sweat. “It is based on a remarkable integration of energy harvesting and storage components, with multiple biosensors in a fluidic microchannel, along with the corresponding electronic controller, all at the fingertip,” said Joseph Wang, whose research group at UC San Diego is behind this innovation. This energy is stored in two stretchable silver chloride-zinc batteries that power four sensors, each dedicated to monitoring a specific biomarker: glucose, vitamin C, lactate, and levodopa, a drug used for treating Parkinson’s disease.

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