An revolutionary wearable gadget to warn of dehydration within the aged is being designed by a College of Southampton researcher. The gadget may forestall critical sickness and save lives yearly – significantly when heatwaves hit.
A glass of water – illustrative photograph. Wearable gadget may struggle harmful dehydration. Picture credit score: Pixabay (Free Pixabay license)
The gadget, which is underneath growth, may be tailored and worn on totally different components of the physique (for instance the arm), issuing warnings earlier than dehydration turns into harmful.
Dr Suan Hui Pu, from the College of Southampton’s Malaysia campus, is working with a crew on the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise (MIT) to miniaturise and additional develop the wearable expertise. He has been chosen by the Malaysian-American Fee on Instructional Alternate and the J. William Fulbright International Scholarship Board as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar for 2023-2024.
Dr Pu, Affiliate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, stated: “Dehydration is most typical in older adults, resulting from a better prevalence of situations resembling impaired kidney perform, a lowered sense of thirst, or diabetes, which might all enhance the danger of dehydration. However dehydration is presently tough to diagnose precisely, and it might result in critical well being issues.”
Dr Suan Hui Pu.
In hospitals and care houses, it’s widespread for sufferers and residents to be assessed for dehydration utilizing questionnaires or blood assessments.
“Utilizing questionnaires is extremely subjective and frequent blood assessments could also be impractical,” stated Dr Pu. “It means dehydration is commonly missed, and an correct, non-invasive wearable sensor, may make an enormous distinction.”
Throughout his time at MIT, based mostly within the world-leading Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Dr Pu will work on the design of the dehydration sensor and contribute to human research, underneath the mentorship of biomedical engineer Professor Martha Grey.
He’ll then return to Malaysia to conduct additional assessments of the expertise in a tropical local weather. These assessments will contribute invaluable information across the utility of the expertise in a unique demographic and cultural setting.
Supply: College of Southampton
