The future of personalized diagnostics and treatment of cardiovascular diseases lies in the use of portable sensors. Portable sensors can acquire biomarker information in biological fluids such as sweat, an approach that mitigates the shortcomings of conventional hospital-centered healthcare. Low sensitivity, selectivity, and specificity remain bottlenecks for the widespread use of portable sensors. Herein, we demonstrate a portable sensor that simultaneously detects Na+, ascorbic acid, and human neuropeptide Y in sweat, all useful biomarkers to index cardiovascular health. The portable sensor comprises a six-electrode system containing three working electrodes, two reference electrodes, and one counter electrode. The working electrodes were prepared by depositing sensing components on carbon quantum dot (CQD) electrodes. The sensing mechanisms were based on selective ion recognition, enzyme catalytic reaction, and immune response, which guarantees specificity to corresponding targets. The CQDs offer massive reactive sites and effectively reduce the interfacial impedance during the sensing reaction, thereby enhancing the three biomarkers’ detection sensitivity. As evidence of portable sensor capability, we demonstrate herein its effective simultaneous detection of the three biomarkers in a real sweat from healthy volunteers during routine activities including exercise, extra ascorbic acid ingestion, and extra Na+ ingestion. As such, the sensor shows promise for real-time noninvasive personalized medical diagnostics and metabolic wellness management.

Real-time monitoring of mental stress biomarkers in sweat provides the possibility to evaluate mental status in a precise manner. In general, wearable sweat sensors suffer from inconvenient sweat collection, low levels of diagnostic biomarkers in sweat, sophisticated signal processing, and challenges with data visualization. To overcome these challenges, herein an integrated wearable sweat-sensing patch for continuous analysis of stress biomarkers (cortisol, Mg 2+ , and pH) at rest is demonstrated. The sweat sensing patch comprised a microfluidic chip, a highly sensitive sensing platform, an on-site signal processing circuitry (SPCs), and a smartphone installed with a homedeveloped display software. The sweat collection at rest is realized using a microfluidic chip without perspiration assistance. A ternary composite electrode is designed to obtain good conductivity, high surface area, and massive reactive sites, thereby yielding excellent electrochemical performances and high sensitivity to trace stress biomarkers. The on-site SPC has the function of signal transduction, conditioning, processing, and wireless transmission. The detection results can be displayed on a smartphone through the software. This work represents a significant scientific and technological advancement toward indexing mental stress status and can be used as an innovative tool for psychological diagnosis.

A strategy is developed for preparing wearable electronic skins (e‐skins) to obtain multiple outputs and realize superhigh sensitivity. In this work, e‐skins are fabricated using colloidal photonic crystals, in which a single layer of microgels is used as a deformation component. The special structure of the e‐skins allows dual outputs of optical and electronic signals in response to pressure changes. The single‐layer structure of the microgel film allows the e‐skin a high‐pressure sensitivity (10.1 kPa−1) and low minimum detection pressure (2 Pa), which enables it to monitor cardiovascular risks in a wearable style. For example, pulse beat spectrum is recorded using the e‐skin, and arterial stiffness index is obtained from the pulse beat spectrum. More importantly, the sensor is used in diagnosing a volunteer with an aneurysm by monitoring his apex beat. The detection results are wirelessly sent to a smartphone by Bluetooth and are displayed through home‐made software. This makes it very convenient to use at home or in the office.