Innovative Wearable Device Monitors Stress Responses Through Sweat Analysis

Chronic stress is a well-known factor in today's society, leading to potential health issues like anxiety, heart disease, and inflammation when prolonged. While some stress can be beneficial, such as during intense exercise, long-term chronic stress places a significant strain on both individuals and public health systems.

Effectively tracking stress responses could aid people in managing their stress better; however, measuring stress objectively and accurately is challenging. Current methods involve subjective self-reports, heart rate monitoring, or wearable sensors that measure cortisol intermittently. These methods fall short of providing a comprehensive view of an individual's long-term stress response.

But now, researchers have created the "Stressomic," a wearable biosensor capable of continuously monitoring cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine in sweat—offering new prospects for better stress management. The device underwent testing in a study published in Science Advances, showing it can differentiate between acute and chronic stress while being worn as a simple skin patch.

The study began by validating the device with electrochemical assays, followed by an on-body clinical trial divided into three parts. In one part, participants completed high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to test the Stressomic's ability to detect physical stress responses. Another segment involved viewing stress-inducing images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to measure psychological stress response. Finally, participants took a supplement known to reduce stress.

The device consistently tracked hormone increases in response to both physical and emotional stressors, and showed decreases following stress-reducing supplementation. The Stressomic demonstrated impressive sensitivity at the picomolar level, due to advanced gold nanodendrite–decorated laser-engraved graphene electrodes.

"In response to emotional stress, norepinephrine levels rose significantly, while cortisol changes were nonsignificant. These results align with previous studies and confirm our system's ability to differentiate physiological from psychological stress responses. Moreover, the system tracked hormone reduction post-supplement intake, indicating its effectiveness in monitoring baseline regulation changes and therapeutic interventions," state the study authors.

The Stressomic revealed distinct temporal patterns for each monitored hormone, allowing differentiation between different types of responses over time. Further improvements may include adding more sampling chambers to allow for longer term observation.

According to the authors, this device holds promise in fields like mental health, sports performance, and personalized stress management. They assert: "Stressomic offers a groundbreaking and non-invasive solution for real-time hormone monitoring. By integrating microfluidic technology and flexible electronics, it enables continuous hormone monitoring across various contexts—physical, emotional, and pharmacological—with wide-ranging applications in health monitoring and human performance management."

Written by Krystal Kasal, edited by Lisa Lock, and fact-checked/reviewed by Robert Egan. We depend on reader support to sustain independent science journalism. If this reporting is important to you, please consider donating (especially monthly). You'll receive an ad-free account as a thank-you.