Your sweat could provide activity feedback

Human sweat is being used to provide crucial information about athletes’ performances. In a study published in the ECS Journal of Solid State Science and Technology researchers describe how they have developed groundbreaking technology in the form of a wearable sensor that detects lactate levels in perspiration.

Originally developed to help detect and predict fatigue and dehydration – both symptoms of raised lactate levels – in soldiers, the research team from the CFD Research Corporation in collaboration with the University of New Mexico believe the device could be used as a training aid to monitor lactate changes in the same way that athletes use heart rate monitors to see how their heart rate changes during exercise.

“The sensor was designed for a soldier in training at boot camp,” says Sergio Omar Garcia, co-author of the study. “But it could be applied to people that are active and anyone participating in strenuous activity.”

The team is now looking to tweak the design of the patch so that the sensor adheres well to the skin before plans are made to sell it commercially.

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