Dr. Heather Clark, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Northeastern University, is leading the research on the subdermal sensors. She said she was reminded of the benefits of real-time, wearable health monitoring when she entered a marathon in Vermont: If they become mass-produced and affordable for the consumer market, wireless devices worn on the body could tell you exactly what medication you need whenever you need it.Current data is limited to using the mouse as an animal model for monitoring sodium levels. As noted in the post, future applications could also extend to sensing glucose levels for diabetics - which is particularly exciting given that insulin-dependent diabetics must prick their own skin multiple times daily in order to determine blood glucose levels and thereby calculate the appropriate insulin dosage.
Also check out Amy Dusto's post at Discovery News, which has a great microscopic picture of the "microworm tubes" that do the sensing.
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