The Gx Sweat Patch is a wearable microfluidic sweat sensor that can be worn by athletes to monitor their sweating rate and sweat chloride concentration. Here, we highlight the commercialization of the Gx Sweat Patch, from developing and optimizing prototypes of a wearable sweat-sensing platform, to validation in competitive individual and team-sport athletes, and the challenges of commercial launch.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Ray, T. R. et al. Bio-integrated wearable systems: a comprehensive review. Chem. Rev. 119, 5461–5533 (2019).
Koh, A. et al. A soft, wearable microfluidic device for the capture, storage, and colorimetric sensing of sweat. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 366ra165 (2016).
Heikenfeld, J. et al. Accessing analytes in biofluids for peripheral biochemical monitoring. Nat. Biotechnol. 37, 407–419 (2019).
Gao, W. et al. Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis. Nature 529, 509–514 (2016).
Ghaffari, R. et al. Soft wearable systems for colorimetric and electrochemical analysis of biofluids. Adv. Funct. Mater. 30, 1907269 (2020).
Baker, L. B. et al. Skin-interfaced microfluidic system with personalized sweating rate and sweat chloride analytics for sports science applications. Sci Adv. 6, 17–19 (2020).
Baker, L. B. et al. Sweating rate and sweat chloride concentration of elite male basketball players measured with a wearable microfluidic device versus the standard absorbent patch method. Int. J. Sport Nutr. Exerc. Metab. 27, 342–349 (2022).
Baker, L. B. et al. Skin-interfaced microfluidic system with machine learning-enabled image processing of sweat biomarkers in remote settings. Adv. Mat. Tech. https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202200249 (2022).
Baker, L. B. Sweating rate and sweat sodium concentration in athletes: a review of methodology and intra/interindividual variability. Sports Med. 47, 111–128 (2017).
Barnes, K. A. et al. Normative data for sweating rate, sweat sodium concentration, and sweat sodium loss in athletes: an update and analysis by sport. J. Sports Sci. 37, 2356–2366 (2019).
Acknowledgements
The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of PepsiCo, Inc. The authors thank the extensive team of scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) for data collection and J. Carter and J. Stofan from GSSI for overall project support. The authors also thank J. A. Wright, M. Seib, D. E. Wright, G. Fagans, W. Li and J. A. Rogers at Epicore Biosystems and Northwestern University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
L.B.B. is employed by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, a division of PepsiCo R&D. R.G., S.P.L., A.J.A. and J.B.M., are cofounders and/or employees of Epicore Biosystems Inc., a company that develops wearable microfluidic devices.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ghaffari, R., Aranyosi, A.J., Lee, S.P. et al. The Gx Sweat Patch for personalized hydration management. Nat Rev Bioeng 1, 5–7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-022-00005-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-022-00005-5
