Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

Dehydration is a common, but serious, consequence for several populations, including patients suffering from head and neck cancer (HNC), patients in palliative care, stroke survivors, and seniors. It can lead to hospitalization and even death. In one year of hospitalizations in the US, 10,000 people died because of dehydration upon admission. Furthermore, it has been estimated that prevention of dehydration-based hospital admissions could save the US health system from 1 to 5 billion dollars every year. These risks to the population and the health care system are unnecessary because dehydration is largely preventable, especially with monitoring. However, most tests for hydration require either a blood or urine analysis, which is not practical for the average person to undertake on a regular basis. Constant monitoring would be a desirable solution to the problem of dehydration, and could be achieved through hydration sensors; the bulkiness of hydration sensors has however been the major challenge. Here, an electronic patch that adheres to the patient's skin is proposed to monitor hydration in everyday life. The electronic patch is thin and stretchable to mimic the mechanical properties of skin and, thus, is wearable on the skin with minimal discomfort. Wireless communication is installed in the patch to enable communication with personal portable appliances, such as smart phones. Device validation to healthy volunteers and HNC patients undergoing chemotherapy are proposed to prove the efficacy of the novel approach. The simple and comfortable nature of the wearable sensor has a potential to fundamentally prevent dehydration-related complications within various high-risk populations. Finally, the ability to connect with smart phones opens the possibility to revolutionize the health delivery system by allowing patients to be monitored at home, to have their data sent automatically to their health care providers, and to be alerted when there is a risk of dehydration.