METHOD AND KIT FOR SWEAT ACTIVITY MEASUREMENT
First Claim
1. A kit for monitoring sweat activity, comprising an electronic processing unit for measuring a conductance signal and a set of three electrodes to be positioned on skin sites of a subject;
- the electrodes being supplied with contact electrolyte for providing electrical contact between the electrodes and the skin sites, the contact electrolyte being characterized in that it allows filling of sweat ducts with sweat from sweat glands over the course of the monitoring when being positioned on the skin sites;
the electronic processing unit comprising an electrode drive circuit for applying a periodic signal with a predetermined frequency of less than 60 Hz to at least one of the electrodes to reduce the contribution from the stratum corneum complex admittance, and an immittance measuring circuit for measuring at least a conductance signal received from at least one of the electrodes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to sweat activity measurement, e.g. for determining a physiological state of a subject, embodied by a method as well as a kit with an immittance measuring circuit and electrodes with contact electrolyte. Sweat activity is considered a transport phenomenon and can be defined as a flux, e.g. gram water per skin area per second. Prior art methods determining water absorbed per gram dry stratum corneum measures skin moisture and do not truly reflect sweat activity. A periodic signal with frequency of 60 Hz or lower is applied to reduce contribution from complex admittance of the skin, and skin conductance is measured as a degree of sweat activity. The contact electrolyte allows filling of sweat ducts with sweat from sweat glands, this may be characterized in that it does not substantially fill the sweat ducts when being positioned on the skin and/or in that it has a re-absorption time constant from the sweat ducts into the Epidermis of less than 15 min.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A kit for monitoring sweat activity, comprising an electronic processing unit for measuring a conductance signal and a set of three electrodes to be positioned on skin sites of a subject;
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the electrodes being supplied with contact electrolyte for providing electrical contact between the electrodes and the skin sites, the contact electrolyte being characterized in that it allows filling of sweat ducts with sweat from sweat glands over the course of the monitoring when being positioned on the skin sites; the electronic processing unit comprising an electrode drive circuit for applying a periodic signal with a predetermined frequency of less than 60 Hz to at least one of the electrodes to reduce the contribution from the stratum corneum complex admittance, and an immittance measuring circuit for measuring at least a conductance signal received from at least one of the electrodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for monitoring sweat activity of a subject over time, the method comprising:
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providing an electronic processing unit for measuring a conductance signal and a set of three electrodes to be positioned on skin sites of a subject, arranging the electrodes in electric contact with the skin via a contact electrolyte having the property of allowing filling of sweat ducts with sweat from sweat glands in the skin sites over the course of the monitoring when being positioned on the skin sites; applying a periodic signal with a predetermined frequency of less than 60 Hz to the electrodes to reduce the contribution from the stratum corneum complex admittance; and measuring at least a conductance signal received from the electrodes.
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Specification