The researchers created a special ultra-thin sensor (A portable chemical sensor is like gold) decorated with gold, which can be applied directly to the skin without irritation and discomfort. The sensor can measure various biomarkers as components for performing chemical analysis of the body. It works with a technique called Raman spectroscopy, in which the laser light focused on the sensor changes slightly depending on all the chemicals present on the skin at that moment. The sensor can be well tuned to be more sensitive and powerful enough for practical use.
Wearable technology is not new. Maybe you or your customer have a smart watch. Many of them may control certain health factors, such as heart rate, but currently do not measure chemicals that may be useful for medical diagnosis. Smart watches (A portable chemical sensor is like gold) or more specialized medical monitors are also quite large and often quite expensive. Encouraged by such shortcomings, a team of researchers from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Tokyo is looking for a new way to detect various health conditions and environmental factors in an undiagnosed environment. invasive and cost effective.
“A few years ago, I found an interesting way to make robust electronic components from another research group at the University of Tokyo,” said Limei Liu, a guest speaker. a scholar at the time of his studies and now a professor at Yangzhou University in China. “These devices are coated with ultra-fine threads with a gold coating, so they can be easily attached to the skin, because gold does not move or irritate the skin. However, as sensors, they are limited in motion detection, so they can be easily attached to the skin,” he adds. and we were looking for something that could detect chemical, biomarker, and drug signatures. That’s why we created this idea and created a non-invasive sensor that exceeded our expectations and encouraged us to explore ways to further improve its functionality.
The most important component of the sensor is the fine gold eye, because gold is inactive, which means that when it comes in contact with a substance the team wants to measure – such as a potential biomarker of sweat disease – it cannot be changed by a chemical. . But instead, because the golden eye is so good, it can provide a surprisingly large area for connection to the biomarker, and this is where the other components of the sensor come into play.
When a low power laser is aimed at the golden eye, some of the laser light is captured and another is visible. In reflected light, most have the same intensity of incident light. However, some incident light loses energy in a biomarker or other measured substance, and the difference in energy between reflected and incident light is unique to that substance. A sensor called a spectrometer can use this unique fingerprint energy to identify a substance. This method of chemical identification is known as Raman spectroscopy.
“Today, our sensors need to be well tuned to detect specific components, and in the future we want to push for sensitivity and accuracy,” said Assistant Professor Tinghui Xiao. “With that, we think that applications like glucose monitoring, good for people with diabetes, or even virus detection, may be possible.”
“The sensor also has the potential to work with chemical analysis methods other than Raman spectroscopy, such as electrochemical analysis, but all of these ideas require further research,” said Professor Keisuke Goda. “In any case, I hope that this research can lead to a new generation of low-cost biosensors that can transform health monitoring and reduce the financial burden on healthcare.”
