New smart ring uses finger sweat to track health conditions:Researchers develop wearable that will monitor your glucose and alcohol levels

Since the launch of the Oura Ring in 2015, smart rings have become one of the fastest-growing wearable gadgets. Unlike smartwatches, these tiny devices sit comfortably on your finger while tracking important health data such as heart rate, blood oxygen levels, sleep quality, body temperature, stress, and physical activity. Over the years, companies like Samsung, Ultrahuman, RingConn, and Circular have entered the smart ring market with their own advanced devices. But now, researchers have taken the technology a step further. A team from the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) has developed a prototype smart ring that can monitor your body’s chemical health by analysing finger sweat. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications on July 23, suggests that future smart rings may be able to monitor conditions like diabetes and nutritional health without requiring blood samples. What makes this smart ring different? Today’s smart rings mainly use tiny sensors to monitor physical health signals, such as: The new UC San Diego smart ring works differently. Instead of measuring only physical signals, it analyses chemical biomarkers present in sweat, giving users a deeper understanding of what is happening inside their bodies. The prototype can continuously monitor up to four of the following biomarkers: This makes it one of the first wearable devices designed to track biochemical health through sweat. How does the sweat-monitoring ring work? One of the biggest challenges was collecting enough sweat without asking users to exercise. To solve this problem, Tamoghna Saha, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego and the study’s first author, developed a special osmotic hydrogel. This soft material gently draws tiny amounts of sweat from the skin using a natural pressure difference. The process is painless and works even when the wearer is resting. Once the sweat is collected: This allows users to receive real-time updates about their body’s chemistry. Also read: Received a login-in request email from X?:Musk’s company warns it could be a scam; here’s how to protect your account

What’s inside the smart ring? Although it looks small, the ring contains several advanced components. Inside its 3D-printed polymer shell is: Who could benefit the most? Researchers believe the ring could be useful for almost anyone interested in monitoring their health. However, it may be especially valuable for: According to the researchers, tracking glucose and ketones together could help improve diabetes management. As Joseph Wang, professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said: For example, the ring’s ability to track both glucose and ketone continuously and simultaneously would greatly benefit optimal insulin dosing for the management of diabetes.
How accurate is it? The research team tested the prototype on both healthy volunteers and people with Type 1 diabetes. The results showed: These early results suggest the technology has strong potential, although more testing is still needed. Also read: Kerala boy creates cardboard robots that help with household chores; internet compares him to young APJ Abdul Kalam
The future of smart rings Most smart rings available today collect information using the same set of sensors that measure heart rate, sleep, and activity. This new prototype shows that the next generation of wearable devices could go much further by tracking the body’s chemistry in real time. While there is still a long way to go before this ring reaches consumers, the research offers a glimpse into how wearable health technology could evolve over the coming years.