A Novel Textile-Embedded Wearable Microwave Sensor for Non-Invasive Sweat Glucose Monitoring

Abstract

Continuous glucose monitoring systems that do not require blood to be drawn are crucial for enhancing the comfort and quality of life of diabetic patients. This paper introduces a novel, non-invasive approach using a textile-based wearable microwave sensor that utilizes real-time sweat for glucose monitoring. Operating at a resonance frequency of 4.87 GHz, the sensor enables high sensitivity to small variations in the dielectric properties of the skin tissues. The sensor's performance was validated through extensive glucose solution-based tests and trials involving volunteers of various ages, and the results were compared with those from a commercial invasive glucose monitoring device. The wearable sensor demonstrated a measurement error of just 3.1%. Moreover, the sensitivity of the sensor was 0.092 (1/(mg/dL)) with a high Q factor of 240, highlighting its effectiveness in detecting glucose with minimal interference from other physiological variables. In addition to its high-performance metrics, the integration of the sensor into a wearable textile enables user-friendly and unobtrusive glucose monitoring. The proposed wearable sensor can continuously track patient glucose levels, thus enabling timely medical intervention and improving treatment outcomes. Moreover, this study paves the way for customizable and personalized biosensors, potentially transforming patient care.