No Blood, Some Sweat, No Tears: Wearable Biosensor Represents Future of Noninvasive IBD Monitoring

It has been about six years since someone close to me was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. In those six years, I have seen bruises. I have seen bandages. I have seen scarring. Each of these was a necessary evil; they were from procedures to either monitor or treat her inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). But what if managing IBD did not have to be so invasive?

Last April, I was in a room full of researchers at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s IBD Innovate conference. I was told there was someone I had to meet. As I introduced myself to Dr. Sriram Muthukumar, I noticed a small round sensor taped to his arm.

He explained to me that it was a wearable biosensor device, similar in some ways to the smart watch I was wearing, except this device could potentially improve quality of life for people with IBD.

A Wearable Device to Track Inflammation

IBD Ventures, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s dedicated funding mechanism to support novel product-oriented research and development, is supporting a noninvasive wearable biosensor device that measures biomarkers of inflammation in a person’s sweat. As CEO and co-founder of EnLiSense, Dr. Muthukumar is currently refining and testing the device so that IBD patients can have real-time access to their level of inflammation and whether they may be about to experience a flare.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation first got involved in funding this project in 2019, when Dr. Shalini Prasad, also a co-founder of EnLiSense, received a grant through our Novel Technologies Initiative. As a result, Dr. Prasad was able to demonstrate that the inflammatory biomarkers CRP, IL-6, and TNF could be measured by monitoring sweat. Previously, these biomarkers could only be measured through blood tests. Recently, the team at EnLiSense was able to add calprotectin to the list of inflammatory biomarkers that can be measured through sweat.

Patients do not need to increase their physical activity level in order for the biosensor to have enough sweat to analyze, as it samples sweat by the nano-liter continuously throughout the day and night.

Implications for the Future of IBD Monitoring

Sometimes, patients have to wait several months before undergoing lab testing or an imaging procedure like an endoscopy, colonoscopy, or MRI to get the latest snapshot of their disease’s status.

Since this device is able to measure inflammatory biomarkers simply by analyzing the sweat that forms on an IBD patient’s skin during typical daily activity, there may be future in which patients do not need endure invasive or time-intensive tests to keep track of their health. With real-time access to their inflammatory status through a wearable device, patients are empowered to make informed choices to manage their disease in partnership with their healthcare provider.

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