Carbon dioxide emissions can track a variety of metabolic functions, such as skin health and wound healing. Some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be environmental health hazards, so monitoring their absorption by the skin can help with risk assessment. VOCs are also emitted by the skin, which can be related to bacterial infection of a wound. A team of researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., have developed a wearable device that can measure the gases flowing in and out of the body with a sensor positioned just above the skin but not touching it.
The device, called an epidermal flux sensor (EFS), measures the changes in gas concentrations adjacent to the subject’s skin. While the sensor itself does not make contact with the wearer’s body, the device does form a circular seal on the skin to create a space that isolates an air sample. That sample is monitored by several discrete sensors designed to measure the concentration of different gases: water vapor, CO2, and VOCs. The device also has sensors for skin temperature and electrical impedance where it is attached to the subject’s skin.
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