An era is opening where it's possible to precisely assess the body’s health status using only sweat instead of blood tests. A KAIST research team has developed a smart patch that can precisely observe internal changes through sweat when simply attached to the body. This is expected to greatly contribute to the advancement of chronic disease management and personalized healthcare technologies.

KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on September 7th that a research team led by Professor Ki-Hun Jeong of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering has developed a wearable sensor that can simultaneously and in real-time analyze multiple metabolites in sweat.

Recently, research on wearable sensors that analyze metabolites in sweat to monitor the human body’s precise physiological state has been actively pursued. However, conventional “label-based” sensors, which require fluorescent tags or staining, and “label-free” methods have faced difficulties in effectively collecting and controlling sweat. Because of this, there have been limitations in precisely observing metabolite changes over time in actual human subjects.

Kyoto, Japan -- Giving birth is hard enough; postpartum depression can make adjusting to parenthood all the more difficult. A healthy diet is essential for new mothers to build strength after such a taxing ordeal, but what if what they eat could also lower the risk of baby blues?

While studies in Western countries have linked gut microbiota to depressive symptoms, little is known about this association in healthy postpartum mothers, particularly in Japan, where cultural barriers often prevent mothers from seeking psychiatric help.

This inspired a team of researchers at Kyoto University to design a cross-sectional study of 344 women from across Japan raising young children. The team assessed participants' depressive and physical symptoms as well as their dietary habits, and analyzed their stool samples.