Wearable Optical Sweat Analytics | (Arnold) Yanuo Zhou

Overview

A national innovation project developing a wearable optical sweat collection and analysis device, combining microfluidic engineering with advanced signal processing for real-time biomarker detection.

Background & Motivation

Sweat is a rich source of biomarkers but is challenging to collect and analyze:

Non-invasive continuous monitoring opportunity
Time-varying biomarker concentrations reflect dynamic health states
Traditional methods require complex lab infrastructure
Need for point-of-care wearable solutions

Key Achievements

3rd Prize - 10th National Student Optoelectronic Design Competition (2022)
Talanta Q1 Journal Publication - Peer-reviewed high-impact venue
NCHU ‘Three Small Projects’ Award
Funded by Outstanding Young Scientist Project (20192BCB23011)

Technology Stack

Hardware Design

Tesla valve-based sweat collection - Passive, valve-assisted collection without external pump
Microfluidic channel optimization - Enhanced sweat concentration and isolation
RGB colorimetry detection - Cost-effective optical sensing without specialized equipment

Signal Processing

Real-time optical signal acquisition
Color space transformation and normalization
Biomarker concentration inference from RGB values
Multi-wavelength analysis for specificity

Results

Successfully demonstrated Tesla valve operation and reliability
RGB color signals correlated with known biomarker concentrations
Wearable prototype validated in lab and field conditions
Comparable accuracy to bench-top methods with 100× cost reduction

Collaborators

A/Prof. Shi Huanhuan - Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Prof. Zhang Weiwei - Department of Biomedical Engineering

Publications

Shi, H., Cao, Y., Zeng, Y., Zhou, Y., et al. “Wearable tesla valve-based sweat collection device for sweat colorimetric analysis.” Talanta, 2022.

Timeline

Start: September 2020
End: July 2022
Duration: 22 months
Competition: October 2022