A neonatal sweat patch found glucose—but the clinical test is still ahead
In 28 NICU infants, a perfused skin patch detected glucose in 224 of 243 skin-perfusate samples. The headline blood-glucose fit came from only 17 paired samples in 15 infants (weighted R² 0.92); lactate fit was R² 0.01. Promising biosensing, but no agreement analysis, threshold accuracy, or clinical outcome makes this a feasibility signal—not a blood-test replacement.
The hot take
A soft membrane patch recovered a measurable glucose signal from thermoregulatory sweat in 28 NICU infants. That is a clever feasibility result. It is not yet a clinical glucose test: the blood comparison used only 17 paired samples from 15 infants, and the paper did not test agreement, decision-threshold accuracy, or patient outcomes.
What the team built
- 1
Apply a perfused membrane
A 3 cm by 2 cm patch was placed on the abdomen or back without puncturing the skin.
- 2
Collect diluted skin fluid
Perfusion fluid passed beneath the membrane and carried thermoregulatory sweat into tubing.
- 3
Measure glucose and lactate
Offline samples were collected every 20 to 120 minutes at 0.5 µL/min; proof-of-concept online monitoring used 0.3 µL/min.
- 4
Compare selected samples
Seventeen time-matched skin and blood pairs from 15 infants were used for the neonatal regression analyses.
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