Although sweat can be an effective and noninvasive source of measuring the levels of things like glucose and lactic acid, we still haven’t seen a company developing a modern device that gets this information from “sweat-reading” sensors.

A startup called GraphWear is looking to change this, with the idea to use “sweat data” to help professional sports teams, college athletics and the amateur athletes avoid dehydration and optimize their performance. In fact, they are setting up a pilot of their sweat patch as we speak, involving 10 athletes from University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and Lehigh University.

GraphWear is looking to have sensors on the market at some point next year, selling them for $99 apiece, plus 50 cents for replacements patches.While dehydration by analyzing electrolytes is the first indication it is pursuing, GraphWear is also interested in other areas, and has already done proof-of-concept for measurements of lactic acid and glucose levels in sweat. Moreover, it sees a way to measure levels of uric acid in sweat as an indicator for gout.

The GraphWear patch is made out of graphene and designed to be worn on the lower back, from where it sends information to a companion smartphone app via Bluetooth.

But it won’t be on the market that fast. Right now, the company is looking to raise $750,000 to $1 million to hire two engineers, develop a small scale fabrication facility and launch its hydration patch. That shouldn’t be a problem with tech giants like Samsung and HP looking for ways to integrate this technology into their products.

The goal is to have sensors on the market at some point next year, selling them for $99 apiece, plus 50 cents for replacements patches. Looking to the future, GraphWear is looking to expand the use of its technology to identify biometric markers from other sources such as saliva, breath, and ear wax.

[Via: MedCityNews]