Abstract

Noninvasive, in situ biochemical monitoring of physiological status, via the use of sweat,
could enable new forms of health care diagnostics and personalized hydration
strategies. Recent advances in sweat collection and sensing technologies offer powerful
capabilities, but they are not effective for use in extreme situations such as aquatic or
arid environments, because of unique challenges in eliminating
interference/contamination from surrounding water, maintaining robust adhesion in the
presence of viscous drag forces and/or vigorous motion, and preventing evaporation of
collected sweat. This paper introduces materials and designs for waterproof, epidermal,
microfluidic and electronic systems that adhere to the skin to enable capture, storage,
and analysis of sweat, even while fully underwater. Field trials demonstrate the ability of
these devices to collect quantitative in situ measurements of local sweat chloride
concentration, local sweat loss (and sweat rate), and skin temperature during vigorous
physical activity in controlled, indoor conditions and in open-ocean swimming.