Sweat Analyte Sensing via Absolute Amount Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sweat sensing techniques face challenges such as difficulty in producing enough sweat for analysis, sample evaporation, lack of appropriate sampling devices, need for trained staff, and issues with volume normalization, leading to unreliable correlations between sweat and blood biomarker concentrations.
Innovation Solution
A method and sensing assembly that determine the absolute amount of an analyte in a nonblood bodily secretion sample, such as sweat, independently of concentration measurement, allowing for a more reliable correlation with blood concentrations without requiring volume measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional sweat sensing techniques are used to measure analyte concentration in sweat, then sweat biomarker monitoring can be performed, but the results are highly variable and lack reliable correlation with blood concentrations due to volume normalization issues
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the measurement parameter from analyte concentration to absolute analyte amount. By measuring the total amount of analyte recovered in the sweat sample rather than its concentration, the method eliminates the need for volume normalization and achieves reliable correlation with blood concentrations. This parameter change directly resolves the technical contradiction by improving measurement precision without sacrificing reliability.
2Quantity of substance
If large sweat volumes are collected in bags or textiles using crude sampling techniques, then sufficient sweat for analysis can be obtained, but the sampling method is invasive and requires trained staff
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and measures only the analyte of interest from the sweat sample using specific capture species, rather than requiring analysis of large sweat volumes. This extraction approach allows sufficient analyte to be obtained from small sweat volumes, eliminating the need for crude sampling techniques and making the procedure easier to perform.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces capture species (antibodies, aptamers, or molecularly imprinted polymers) as intermediaries that selectively bind to the analyte in sweat. These intermediaries enable specific analyte recovery from minimal sweat volumes, eliminating the need for large-scale collection methods and trained staff while ensuring sufficient analyte quantity for analysis.
3Productivity
If absorbent pads are used to collect sweat in wearable sensors, then sweat can be captured as it emerges from skin, but accumulation effects occur and continuous reliable sensing over long periods is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the analyte from sweat at discrete time points using capture species, rather than attempting to continuously monitor sweat composition in real-time. This extraction approach prevents accumulation effects because each measurement represents a discrete sample taken at a specific moment, maintaining sample composition stability while enabling continuous monitoring over extended periods.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a method (100) comprising providing (102) a nonblood bodily secretion sample having a concentration of an analyte. The analyte is separately detectable in blood. The method also comprises determining (104), independently of any measurement of said concentration, a measure of an absolute amount, in other words a total amount, of the analyte in the nonblood bodily secretion sample. Further provided is a sensing assembly for implementing the method, and a method for determining a correlation between such a measure of an absolute amount of the analyte in a nonblood bodily secretion sample and a blood concentration of the analyte in blood.