Measure your stress
Analysis of the level of stress biomarkers in blood, sweat, urine and saliva
Lina Medvedeva, XX2 century
Stress is often called a "silent killer" because of its subtle effect on many aspects of the body's functioning - from heart disease to mental health.
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (University of Cincinnati) have developed a new analysis – a simple measurement of the amount of common stress hormones in sweat, blood, urine or saliva. Scientists hope that their ideas will be embodied in a simple device and patients will be able to use it at home to monitor their health.
The results of the work are published in the journal ACS Sensors (Prajokta Ray, Andrew J. Steckl, Label-Free Optical Detection of Multiple Biomarkers in Sweat, Plasma, Urine, and Saliva).
"I wanted to do something simple that would be easy to interpret," said Andrew Steckl, professor of electrical engineering. – Which, although it will not give complete information, will tell you that you need a professional who can take care of you."
To measure the level of stress hormones in a drop of blood, sweat, urine or saliva, the developed device uses ultraviolet light. According to Glass, stress biomarkers can be found in any of the mentioned liquids, although in different amounts. The main biomarker of stress detected by the device is cortisol. Spectroscopy reveals absorption peaks of waves close to ultraviolet, depending on the molecular structure of the biomarker. The sensor combines a dispenser, a liquid conveyor to the optical absorption measurement site, an ultraviolet LED and a photodiode.
A prototype stress sensor measures hormone levels in test strips. A snapshot from the article Stressed out? UC device can tell you, published on the website of the University of Cincinnati – VM.
The concentration of the biomarker is displayed as a function of the photoflow generated at a given wavelength. The detection mechanism is applicable not only to cortisol, but also to other types of biomarkers.
Stekl studied biosensors in his nanoelectronics laboratory for many years. The latest article is part of a series of papers by his research group on biosensors. It includes an overview of practical methods for the direct diagnosis of stress biomarkers.
In his work, the scientist was based on the experience of helping his father when his health deteriorated. It was the personal situation that set the direction of the study – analyses at home. "I had to take him to the laboratory or to the doctor often enough to do tests. I thought it would be great if we could do the tests ourselves to see if the situation has worsened or if it's a false alarm," says Stekl. "This, of course, will not replace laboratory tests, but it can more or less tell the patient something about his condition."
The University of Cincinnati received a grant for the project from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab. Stekl explains this by saying that the military is interested in understanding the mechanisms of stress experienced by pilots of combat vehicles and everyone who gets into situations on the border of human capabilities.
"Pilots are under the pressure of enormous stress during combat missions. The ground controller would like to know when the pilot reaches the limit of the ability to control the mission, and be able to take the pilots out of the mission before the catastrophic finale," says Stekl.
But the device can be useful in a variety of industries and situations; the Glass Laboratory is considering commercial options for its use.
"Stress hurts in different ways, it creeps up on you. You don't know how destructive a short or long–term impact of stress can be," says Prajokta Ray, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, lead author of the study – Stress is one of the causes of many somatic ailments, for example, diabetes, high blood pressure, neurological or psychological disorders. This is one of the most popular topics in recent years. Researchers have spent a lot of work trying to develop a test that is both cheap, simple and effective, capable of detecting hormones in low concentrations. This development has the potential to translate into a reliable commercial device. It would be great to see developments going in this direction."
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