Wearable chemo/bio-sensors for sweat sensing in sports applications: combining micro-fluidics and novel materials

Abstract

In the last decade, we have witnessed an exponential growth in the area of clinical diagnostic but surprisingly little has been done on the development of wearable chemo/bio-sensors in the field of sports science. In particular, the use of wearable wireless sensors capable of analysing sweat during physical exercise can provide access to new information sources that can be used to optimise and manage athletes’ performance. Lab-on-a-Chip technology provides a fascinating opportunity for the development of such wearable sensors. In this thesis two different colorimetric wearable microfluidic devices for real- time pH sensing were developed and used during athlete training activity. In one case a textile-based microfluidic platform employing cotton capillarity to drive sweat toward the pH sensitive area is presented that avoids the use of bulky fluid handling apparatus, i.e. pumps. The second case presents a wearable micro-fluidic device based on the use of pH responsive ionogels to obtain real-time sweat pH measurements through photo analysis of their colour variation. The thesis also presents the first example of sweat lactate sensing using an organic electrochemical transistor incorporating an ionogel as solid-state electrolyte. In this chapter, optimization of the lactate oxidase stability when dissolved in number of hydrated ionic liquids is investigated. Finally, a new fabrication protocol for paper-based microfluidic technology is presented, which may have important implications for future applications such as low-cost diagnostics and chemical sensing technologies