(UPI) – Scientists have developed a new skin patch that can provide all-in-one health monitoring capabilities. The thin, flexible patch, worn on the neck, can track the wearer’s heart rate and blood pressure, as well as glucose levels.
The technology, described Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, can even measure the amount of lactate, alcohol, or caffeine in the wearer’s blood.
“This type of wearable would be very helpful for people with underlying medical conditions to monitor their own health on a regular basis,” co-first author of the study Lu Yin said in a news release.
“It would also serve as a great tool for remote patient monitoring, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when people are minimizing in-person visits to the clinic,” Yin, a nano-engineering doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego. In addition to monitoring chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as pinpointing the onset of sepsis, the patch could help predict people at risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19. READ MORE
