Wearable smart textiles for non-invasive detection of the stress biomarker cortisol
Principal Investigator
Dr. Roxbury is designing innovative ways to measure cortisol, a hormone biomarker secreted in response to stressful situations. Its concentration within various biofluids like sweat is correlated to the severity of stress. Wearable devices that provide real-time measurements of cortisol have been developed, but they require delicate electrodes and power sources. An alternative technology utilizes optical sensing “smart textiles” with embedded carbon nanotubes that can specifically detect biomarkers such as cortisol. For this project, the carbon nanotubes will be functionalized with a custom block co-polymer that is selective and sensitive for cortisol. The smart textile will be electrospun into a microfibrous material and optimized for real-time, reversible detection of cortisol in sweat mimicking solutions. In parallel, the detection platform will be miniaturized by creating a portable device for field use. The device will comprise an LED excitation source, a single-point near-infrared (NIR) detector, appropriate lenses and filters, and a Raspberry Pi device to provide communication and transmit a signal corresponding to the real-time cortisol concentration. The proposed research will provide a preliminary version of this detection platform that can be used for portable applications with a 10-fold reduction in footprint.
