In-ear integrated sensor array for the continuous monitoring of brain activity and of lactate in sweat

Owing to the proximity of the ear canal to the central nervous system, in-ear electrophysiological systems can be used to unobtrusively monitor brain states. Here, by taking advantage of the ear’s exocrine sweat glands, we describe an in-ear integrated array of electrochemical and electrophysiologic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature biomedical engineering Vol. 7; no. 10; pp. 1307 - 1320
Main Authors:	Xu, Yuchen, De la Paz, Ernesto, Paul, Akshay, Mahato, Kuldeep, Sempionatto, Juliane R., Tostado, Nicholas, Lee, Min, Hota, Gopabandhu, Lin, Muyang, Uppal, Abhinav, Chen, William, Dua, Srishty, Yin, Lu, Wuerstle, Brian L., Deiss, Stephen, Mercier, Patrick, Xu, Sheng, Wang, Joseph, Cauwenberghs, Gert
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-10-2023 Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:	639/166/985 692/700 9/10 Biomarkers Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology Biomedicine Brain Central nervous system Chemical sensors Ear Ear canal Earphones EEG Electroencephalography Electrooculography Electrophysiology Frequencies Lactic acid Neurodegenerative diseases Sensor arrays Sensors Substrates Sweat Sweat gland
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Summary:	Owing to the proximity of the ear canal to the central nervous system, in-ear electrophysiological systems can be used to unobtrusively monitor brain states. Here, by taking advantage of the ear’s exocrine sweat glands, we describe an in-ear integrated array of electrochemical and electrophysiological sensors placed on a flexible substrate surrounding a user-generic earphone for the simultaneous monitoring of lactate concentration and brain states via electroencephalography, electrooculography and electrodermal activity. In volunteers performing an acute bout of exercise, the device detected elevated lactate levels in sweat concurrently with the modulation of brain activity across all electroencephalography frequency bands. Simultaneous and continuous unobtrusive in-ear monitoring of metabolic biomarkers and brain electrophysiology may allow for the discovery of dynamic and synergetic interactions between brain and body biomarkers in real-world settings for long-term health monitoring or for the detection or monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases. An in-ear integrated array of sensors for electroencephalography, electrooculography and electrodermal activity and for lactate can be used to concurrently monitor brain states and lactate levels in sweat.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2157-846X 2157-846X
DOI:	10.1038/s41551-023-01095-1