A UT research group invented a wearable prototype sensor that tracks dehydration in the human body.
The study, published on July 14, was conducted to create a more accessible way to read dehydration levels, so workers and athletes can combat dehydration in hotter climates. Nanshu Lu, a professor and the Carol Cockrell Curran Chair in Engineering at UT, led the study.
Lu said the current gold standards for body hydration sensing include measuring how salty a person’s blood is, comparing urine color and measuring how conductive a person’s body is, also known as electrical impedance. Lu said the more conductive a person’s body is, the less water they have in their body.
Lu and her team hypothesized a different method of measuring electrical impedance. Normally, the measurement requires a person to stand on a scale and hold on to two metal bars to measure the whole body’s electrical impedance. The researchers wondered if they could measure conductivity using only a segment of the body.
Matija Jankovic, lead author of the study and a former graduate student, said the device is a proof of concept.
Jankovic said the wearable device injects small currents into the body, and goes through various cells, cell membranes and fluids, and measures how naturally the current moves through the body, which dictates how hydrated or dehydrated the body is.
“The idea here is to package bio impedance components into a small wearable device,” Jankovic said. “As the body dehydrates, the bio impedance will track those changes in fluids throughout your body.”
Dr. Lu said her group plans to further tailor the technology to different potential users.
“We are developing better packaging, better usability, wearability and so on, for the ultimate goal that we can do field deployment,” Dr. Lu said. “We are very interested in talking to any users from early on, such that we can understand what’s the realistic environment or considerations.”
