Soft, Skin-Interfaced Microfluidic Systems for Clinical Diagnostics
Tyler Ray
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
raytyler@hawaii.edu
Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is among the most common life-shortening genetic disorders. Early diagnosis via quantitative assessment of chloride in sweat allows prompt initiation of care and is critically important to extend life expectancy and improve quality of life. In practice, the collection and analysis of sweat using conventional wrist strapped devices and iontophoresis can be cumbersome, particularly for infants with fragile skin, who often have insufficient sweat production. Here, we introduce a soft, epidermal device (“sweat sticker”) with capabilities tailored for simple and rapid collection and analysis of sweat via an intimate skin-compatible microfluidics construct. This intimate, conformal coupling with the skin supports nearly perfect efficiency in sweat collection, without leakage. Real-time image analysis of chloride reagents allows for quantitative assessment of chloride concentrations using a smartphone camera, without the need for extraction of sweat or external analysis. Clinical validation studies involving CF patients and healthy subjects, across a spectrum of age groups, support clinical equivalence in terms of accuracy, and demonstrate meaningful reductions in rates of leakage compared to existing device platforms. The wearable microfluidic technologies and remote-based analytics reported here establish the foundation for diagnosis of CF in nearly any environment.
Short Bio
Tyler R. Ray is currently an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina (in 2008 and 2010, respectively) and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2015. He received his postdoctoral training as a fellow at Northwestern University in the Rogers Research Group from 2016- 2019. Professor Ray’s research focus is at the intersection of materials science, additive manufacturing, and wearable sensors. He seeks to exploit novel nanoscale properties in multiscale materials for advanced sensors and diagnostic tools.