Don’t Sweat It! New Tech Monitors Health With a Single Drop of Sweat.

Looking for ways to cool off and beat the summer heat? Think twice before wiping that sweat off your brow. Every drop of perspiration is a treasure trove of biochemical information, containing a plethora of biomarkers capable of providing valuable insights into your health status.

Imagine if your watch strap was powered with technology to tap into these biological signals given off by sweat — continuously monitoring your health and wellbeing. Such a device might not be too far off from becoming a reality if scientists can find ways of overcoming the limitations in existing sweat-analyzing devices.

At present, sweat tests have a way to go before they can be used for routine, long-term monitoring. Some of the biggest challenges are that these are often expensive, inefficient, or are designed for one-time use. A recent study, published in the journal Biomicrofluidics, addresses these shortcomings and describes a breakthrough likely to make a big impact wearable diagnostic industry.

A team of biomolecular experts at North Carolina State University (NCSU), led by Orlin Velev, have created a low-powered gadget that uses paper to wick sweat off the user’s skin and and monitor their health for up to 10 days at a time. Unlike other paper-based devices that shut down once they become…