Super-Absorbent Polymer Valves and Colorimetric Chemistries for Time-Sequenced Discrete Sampling and Chloride Analysis of Sweat via Skin-Mounted Soft Microfluidics

Sung Bong Kim; Yi Zhang; Sang Min Won; Amay J Bandodkar; Yurina Sekine; Yeguang Xue; Jahyun Koo; Sean W Harshman; Jennifer A Martin; Jeong Min Park; Tyler R Ray; Kaitlyn E Crawford; Kyu-Tae Lee; Jungil Choi; Rhonda L Pitsch; Claude C Grigsby; Adam J Strang; Yu-Yu Chen; Shuai Xu; Jeonghyun Kim; Ahyeon Koh; Jeong Sook Ha; Yonggang Huang; Seung Wook Kim; John A Rogers

doi:10.1002/smll.201703334

Super-Absorbent Polymer Valves and Colorimetric Chemistries for Time-Sequenced Discrete Sampling and Chloride Analysis of Sweat via Skin-Mounted Soft Microfluidics

Small. 2018 Mar;14(12):e1703334. doi: 10.1002/smll.201703334. Epub 2018 Feb 2.

Authors

Sung Bong Kim¹, Yi Zhang^{2

3}, Sang Min Won¹, Amay J Bandodkar^{2

3}, Yurina Sekine⁴, Yeguang Xue^{5

6}, Jahyun Koo^{2

3}, Sean W Harshman⁷, Jennifer A Martin⁷, Jeong Min Park^{8

9}, Tyler R Ray^{2

3}, Kaitlyn E Crawford^{1

10}, Kyu-Tae Lee¹, Jungil Choi^{2

3}, Rhonda L Pitsch¹¹, Claude C Grigsby⁷, Adam J Strang¹², Yu-Yu Chen¹, Shuai Xu^{13

14}, Jeonghyun Kim¹⁵, Ahyeon Koh¹⁶, Jeong Sook Ha¹⁷, Yonggang Huang^{18

6}, Seung Wook Kim¹⁷, John A Rogers^{2

3

6

19

20

21

22

23}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
² Center for Bio-Integrated Elecctronics at the Simpson Querry Institute for BioNanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
⁴ Materials Sciences Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1195, Japan.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
⁷ 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Systems Directorate, Human-Centered ISR Division, Human Signatures Branch Air Force Research Laboratories WPAFB, OH, 45433, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA.
¹¹ Contractor for The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Systems Directorate, Human-Centered ISR Division, Human Signatures Branch Air Force Research Laboratories WPAFB, OH, 45433, USA.
¹² Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, 45433, USA.
¹³ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Electronics Convergence Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 01897, Republic of Korea.
¹⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.
¹⁸ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
²⁰ Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
²¹ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
²² Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
²³ Simpson Querrey Institute for Nano/Biotechnology, McCormick School of Engineering and Feinberg, School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.

PMID: 29394467
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201703334

Abstract

This paper introduces super absorbent polymer valves and colorimetric sensing reagents as enabling components of soft, skin-mounted microfluidic devices designed to capture, store, and chemically analyze sweat released from eccrine glands. The valving technology enables robust means for guiding the flow of sweat from an inlet location into a collection of isolated reservoirs, in a well-defined sequence. Analysis in these reservoirs involves a color responsive indicator of chloride concentration with a formulation tailored to offer stable operation with sensitivity optimized for the relevant physiological range. Evaluations on human subjects with comparisons against ex situ analysis illustrate the practical utility of these advances.

Keywords: microfluidics; perspiration; super absorbent polymer; sweat chloride.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Colorimetry / methods*
Humans
Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
Microfluidics / methods*
Polymers / chemistry*
Skin / metabolism
Sweat / chemistry*

Substances

Polymers

Grants and funding

R01 EB019337/EB/NIBIB NIH HHS/United States