Engineers Take First Step Toward Flexible, Wearable, Tricorder-like Device

Ever thought of a device that can track human body's electric and biochemical signals at the same time? Well, the device has already been created by a team of engineers at the University of San Diego.

The researchers have created a flexible wearable device dubbed 'Chem-Phys' patch that can record electrocardiogram (EKG) heart signals and also track the levels of lactate in the human body. Lactate is a biomarker of physical activity in the human body. The device, thus, enables the user to notice the increasing and falling levels of lactate in their body in real time.

What makes this device special is, its ability to interact with a smartphone, laptop or smart watch wirelessly. Chem-Phys patch can be worn on the chest and can be easily used by the athletes to monitor their activity or by the physicians to monitor patients with heart conditions.

The device, created by a team of nanoengineers and electrical engineers, includes a small electric board and a flexible suite of sensors. The device also has a feature to transmit the electrical and biochemical signals with the help of Bluetooth.

According to the researchers, the entire intention of the team was to create a wearable tricorder-like device that can efficiently record the entire set of physical, chemical and electrophysiological signals at the same time and throughout the day.

However, the researchers consider their experiment only as a first step toward what can actually be done on a large scale.

A majority of sensors available today have the capability to measure only one form of signals, either physical, electronic or biochemical. This is the first time that any research team has been able to build a sensor that tracks all three at the same time. This could of particular benefit to athletes who wish to improve their performance.

The complete details about the wearable device project have been published in the journal Nature Communications.