Systems and methods for real-time sweat sampling and analysis

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11986167-B2
Application number	US-202318194630-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2023
Priority date	Sep 25, 2020
Publication date	May 21, 2024
Grant date	May 21, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods for continuous real-time sweat sampling and analysis are disclosed. A sweat collection article and method of collecting sweat from a person's skin using the sweat collection article are provided. The sweat collection article includes: a sweat collecting tube placed adjacent to the person's skin, and at least one piece of flexible material that has an adhesive that adheres the article to the person's skin and is positioned to overlie one end of the tube. The second end of the sweat collecting tube is in fluid communication with an instrument such as a mass spectrometer that analyzes the sweat on a real-time basis. The systems and methods may further include a device for removing salt from the sweat that is arranged so that the sweat is transported to the device prior to being transported to the instrument for analyzing the sweat.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous real-time sweat collection and analysis system comprising:
a sweat collecting article comprising:
a thin, flexible, conformable, and impervious covering having two surfaces comprising a body-facing surface and an opposing outwardly-oriented surface, a central portion, edges that define a perimeter of said central portion, and a perimeter portion surrounding said central portion, wherein the perimeter portion has adhesive on the body-facing surface for adhering the covering to a person's skin and for forming a seal around said central portion, and said central portion of the body-facing surface is free of adhesive;
a sweat collector tube having a first end, a second end, and a length that extends between said first and second ends, wherein the first end of said sweat collector tube is positioned adjacent to said covering so that the central portion of the covering overlaps a first portion of said tube and the adhesive on said perimeter portion of said covering adheres to a second portion of said tube, and a third portion of said tube extends outward beyond an edge of said covering to the second end of said tube, wherein the second end of said tube is free to place in fluid communication with an instrument for analyzing said sweat; and

an instrument for analyzing sweat collected from a person wherein said instrument has an input port for receiving fluid samples, and the free end of said sweat collector tube is in fluid communication with the input port of said instrument, wherein said instrument is a mass spectrometer and said mass spectrometer is configured to receive sweat samples on a continuous basis from said sweat collection device.

2. The real-time sweat collection system of claim 1 wherein said covering comprises a single piece of film.

3. The real-time sweat collection system of claim 1 wherein said covering comprises two pieces of flexible material comprising:
a first piece of film material forming said central portion of said covering, said first piece of film material having two surfaces comprising a body-facing surface and an opposing outwardly-oriented surface, an area, and edges that define a perimeter of said first piece of film material; and
a second piece of film material, wherein said second piece of film material has two surfaces comprising a body-facing surface and an opposing outwardly-oriented surface, wherein said second piece of film material is sized and configured to extend beyond the edges of said first piece of film material, and a first part of the body-facing surface of the second piece of film material has an adhesive thereon for adhering to the outwardly-oriented surface of the first piece of film material, a second part of the body-facing surface of said second piece of film material and the adhesive thereon forms the perimeter portion of said covering for adhering to a person's skin and forming a seal around said central portion of said covering.

4. The sweat collection and analysis system of claim 1 further comprising a device for removing salt from the sweat that is in fluid communication with said sweat collecting device and said instrument and is arranged so that sweat is transported to said device for removing salt from the sweat before it is transported to the instrument for analyzing sweat.

5. The sweat collection and analysis system of claim 4 wherein a device for removing salt from the sweat is selected from the group consisting of: electrodialysis, micro dialysis, and ion concentration polarization devices.

6. A continuous real-time method of collecting and analyzing sweat from a person's skin, said method comprising:
a) attaching a sweat collection article over an area of the person's skin, wherein said sweat collection article comprises:
a sweat collector tube having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of said tube is placed adjacent the area of the person's skin, and the second end of sweat collector tube is free to place in fluid communication with an instrument for analyzing sweat; and
a thin, flexible, conformable, and impervious covering that is positioned over and adhered to the sweat collector tube, said covering having two surfaces comprising a body-facing surface and an opposing outwardly-oriented surface, a central portion, edges that define a perimeter of said central portion, and a perimeter portion surrounding said central portion, wherein said central portion of the body-facing surface is free of adhesive, and the central portion of the cover is placed over the first end of the sweat collector tube, and the perimeter portion has adhesive on the body-facing surface for adhering the covering to a person's skin and for forming a seal around said central portion;

b) placing the free second end of said sweat collector tube in fluid communication with the input port of an instrument for analyzing sweat;
c) collecting sweat from the person's skin using said sweat collection device wherein sweat travels into said sweat collector tubing and then into said instrument; and
d) analyzing the sweat collected using said instrument, wherein said instrument is a mass spectrometer and said mass spectrometer is configured to receive sweat samples on a continuous basis from said sweat collection device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said mass spectrometer analyzes the sweat for analytes/ions other than sodium and chloride.

Assignees

• Us Gov Air Force
• The Government Of The Us Secretary Of The Air Force

Inventors

• Harshman Sean
• Qualley Anthony
• Bowman Amanda
• Strayer Kraig
• Pitsch Rhonda
• Brothers Michael

Classifications

• A61B10/0064 Primary

  for taking sweat or sebum samples (measuring sweat production A61B5/4266) · CPC title

• A61B5/4266

  sweat secretion · CPC title

• A61B5/443

  Evaluating skin constituents, e.g. elastin, melanin, water · CPC title

• A61B5/6824

  Arm or wrist · CPC title

• A61B5/6831

  Straps, bands or harnesses · CPC title