Spying on the Human Body Pt. 1
The Future of Biosensors
If the human body is a house, biosensors are the windows. Don’t think that this technology is some futuristic voodoo magic, you likely have a bio sensor on you right now. Do you own a smartphone or a smartwatch? Those little electronic devices can now provide all sorts of useful health information- steps taken, heart rate, and even sleep quality. In the next few series of startup reviews, I will be investigating what the future holds for these next generation biosensors, specifically WNBs
Wearable noninvasive biosensor (WNB)
Exactly what it sounds like. First, it has to be something that you can wear- so typically small and can be attached to skin or integrated on clothing. Second, it’s non-invasive, meaning that it should not cause too much pain and discomfort while being worn or used. Lastly, it has to be a biosensor (duh!)
Where is my data coming from?
Since WNBs are one of the fastest growing areas in life sciences and healthcare technology, this list is likely incomplete and already out of date. However, I will try my best to go over the major categories of WNBs and sources of data collection:
Blood
From tracking diabetes to detecting cancer, blood contains a treasure-trove of information and is the current gold standard for biosensors. However, taking a blood sample, even if just a small needle prick, is still an inconvenience so real time updates are not practical. Thus there have been many startups working on new technology that obtain some of the same information using less invasive methods.
Sweat
Everyone sweats. The average person puts out 1.5 of gallons a sweat a day — filled with all sorts of rich information. One early stage startup, Eccrine Systems (2013) aims to captures this data using patches to measure sweat composition from various body locations. These patches can provide real-time information on blood glucose levels without that annoying finger prick. Another startup, Nix Biosensors (2015), uses skin-like hydrogels to determine hydration levels and tell you when to drink more water. Xsensio (2014) goes down a different path by developing a lab on a chip technology that can be attached to skin. There, it is able to detect electrolytes, metabolites, molecules and proteins at sub-picomolar concentrations- which then can be used to correlate health and wellness information.
Urine
While maybe not the most pleasant, urine is already used to detect pregnancy and UTIs. Expanding on this, S-There (2016) is a venture out of MIT that developed a smart toilet device. Using collected urine samples, this toilet can detect conditions ranging from dehydration to early stage diabetes. Additionally, Japanese mega-conglomerate Hitachi is moving into this area with its urine-based cancer detection technology. The company hopes to begin test trials in fiscal 2018.
Others
While blood, saliva and urine are the most conventional choices for biosensors, there has been rather innovative startups looking into other avenues of attack. ContinUse Biometrics (2015) developed contact-less biosensors that can detect and analyze vital signs using the nano-scale vibrations of your internal organs. Alternatively, Halo (2014) developed a wearable device that monitors and manages muscle tension with a goal of reducing chronic headaches and migraines. Finally, there are also several teams measuring the diffusion of ethanol vapors through skin to determine blood alcohol content (BAC) values.
Bottom Line
While all of these approaches are extremely fascinating, they all face the limitations of sensitivity, accuracy, and person to person variance. In the coming days and weeks, I will be taking a deeper dive into each category of sensors to look at how these startups are planning to overcome these challenges. Stay tuned!
