Smart ring reads your sweat to measure glucose, ketones, and more

Smart rings are becoming more common. Some record notes, others answer questions using AI, and some help athletes improve. There are also medical smart rings that track sleep or let users choose health apps. Even smart earrings can check blood flow.

Now, engineers at the University of California at San Diego have created a new smart ring. It uses osmosis to continuously measure biomarkers like alcohol, glucose, ketone, lactate, Vitamin C, and uric acid from sweat. This data then goes to a smartphone app.

A New Way to Monitor Health

In their paper published in Nature Communications, researchers Tamoghna Saha, Shichao Ding, and Siyu Qin explained their invention. They work in Professor Joseph Wang's lab. They describe the ring as a "true biochemical counterpart to existing smart rings." It can monitor multiple chemical biomarkers in real time.

Saha's team says their device goes beyond current smart rings. Those rings usually only focus on physical signals. This new ring offers continuous assessment of biochemical changes. This helps advance personalized healthcare technology.

Postdoctoral researcher Saha noted that commercial rings lack molecular information from biochemical markers. These markers offer deeper insights into a person's health.

Sweat-Based Monitoring Without Exercise

The ring uses a painless, osmotic hydrogel method to collect sweat. This means users don't need to exercise to start sweating. They don't have to run or cycle to get continuous medical monitoring. This could help protect against diabetes or ensure proper nutrition.

This is especially good for people with sedentary jobs or those who can't sweat or move easily. It's also helpful for people who simply want to sleep while being monitored. Professor Wang explained that a ring providing dynamic molecular information in real time would be very useful. It could help people make informed decisions about their health, diet, and lifestyle.

For example, the ring can track both glucose and ketone continuously. This could greatly help with insulin dosing for diabetes management.

Accurate and Discreet Health Tracking

In trials, the UC San Diego smart ring performed well. It was compared to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) used by people with type-1 diabetes. It also matched commercial blood meters for ketone tracking. Replacing two devices with one ring offers convenience and discreetness.

The ring offers 12-hour monitoring. It also calibrates to the user's specific biomedical factors, with two months of calibration stability. This provides personalized and more accurate health assessments.

Medical discreetness is very important. Researchers know that many patients risk their health due to the stigma of needing medical help. This new ring offers a less noticeable way to monitor health.

Deep Dive & References: A compact, fully integrated smart ring for continuous and simultaneous monitoring of multiple chemical biomarkers in sweat - Nature Communications