Pediatrics
March 1, 2022
Qi Lu
March 1, 2022Gx Sweat Patch®
The growing field of wearable devices aims to tackle the limitations of healthcare by giving people insight into the fluctuations of their physiology. Dr. John Rogers, a Northwestern University professor dedicated to biomedical engineering and neurological surgery, has partnered with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) to create a Band-Aid-like flexible patch.(1) When sweating begins, The Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch® will inform the user of their hydration and electrolyte status. (2)
About GX sweat patch
The Gx Sweat Patch® is a transparent, 2.5 x 1.5 inches self-adhering patch that can be fixed anywhere on the skin. It weighs 1.25 ounces or 35.4 grams. The patch counts with a micropore in the center that collects a sweat sample, filling a channel that flows through the device, allowing the samples to mix and interact with chemicals within these microchannels, causing the fluid to undergo a color change.(3)
The device contains two chambers that display indicative colors; a blue color, indicating how much sweat the wearer has lost, and thus, a decrease in hydration, and a dark red color, displaying electrolyte loss.(1) The fluid loss will indicate the total amount of fluid the user loses during a workout, needed to calculate hydration needs. (3) The sweat rate is the amount of sweat over one-hour helping calculate the fluid loss. The sodium lost in sweat is used to calculate electrolyte needs.
The Gx Sweat Patch® is a transparent, 2.5 x 1.5 inches self-adhering patch that can be fixed anywhere on the skin. It weighs 1.25 ounces or 35.4 grams. The patch counts with a micropore in the center that collects a sweat sample, filling a channel that flows through the device, allowing the samples to mix and interact with chemicals within these microchannels, causing the fluid to undergo a color change.(3)
The device contains two chambers that display indicative colors; a blue color, indicating how much sweat the wearer has lost, and thus, a decrease in hydration, and a dark red color, displaying electrolyte loss.(1) The fluid loss will indicate the total amount of fluid the user loses during a workout, needed to calculate hydration needs. (3) The sweat rate is the amount of sweat over one-hour helping calculate the fluid loss. The sodium lost in sweat is used to calculate electrolyte needs.
Advantages and disadvantages
Some advantages of the Gx Sweat Patch® are that it is small, lightweight, rechargeable, and wireless making it extremely user-friendly. (3)
The Gx Sweat Patch® is made of hypoallergenic material, minimizing skin irritation while maintaining adhesion to the wearer’s skin. However, there is a small risk of developing skin allergies and irritation. It can also be used in water during swimming without affecting the device’s function. Unfortunately, the sweat patch is not yet available to everyone as it is still under development. It is currently used by athletes only, hoping for it to one day be utilized in babies with Cystic Fibrosis and stroke patients. (1)
Breaking a sweat apart
With the ever-growing field of Artificial Intelligence in medicine, some scientists have been working on developing devices for sweat sensing. Many aspects determine how reliable and valuable sweat sensor measurements can be. These aspects must be controlled to develop this technology further successfully. With the help of Dr. Rogers, The combination of wearable technology that captures an athlete’s sweat rate and electrolyte concentration directly from the skin with a smartphone app that processes the data using machine learning made this dream a reality. (2)
The Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch® was designed to be a highly functional sports accessory by accurately testing and intuitively displaying the two vital elements of hydration analytics: sweat rate and electrolyte concentration. (4)
With the ever-growing field of Artificial Intelligence in medicine, some scientists have been working on developing devices for sweat sensing. Many aspects determine how reliable and valuable sweat sensor measurements can be. These aspects must be controlled to develop this technology further successfully. With the help of Dr. Rogers, The combination of wearable technology that captures an athlete’s sweat rate and electrolyte concentration directly from the skin with a smartphone app that processes the data using machine learning made this dream a reality. (2)
The Gatorade Gx Sweat Patch® was designed to be a highly functional sports accessory by accurately testing and intuitively displaying the two vital elements of hydration analytics: sweat rate and electrolyte concentration. (4)
References