Optimization of a Stacked-design Core-body-temperature Sensor for Long-period Human Trials

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Wearable Technology
• Physiological Monitoring

Background:

• Accurate core body temperature (CBT) monitoring is crucial for health assessment.
• Existing methods for continuous CBT measurement are often invasive or impractical for long-term use.
• Environmental factors like convection significantly impact the accuracy of skin-surface temperature sensors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel wearable sensor for continuous, wireless core body temperature (CBT) measurement.
• To address the challenge of measurement accuracy degradation due to environmental convection changes.
• To create a practical, integrated design suitable for long-term human trials.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of an integrated wearable sensor combining a probe, circuit board, and battery.
• Optimization of sensor design using computer simulation.
• Evaluation using phantom experiments with controlled convection and a preliminary human trial under daily-life conditions.

Main Results:

• The sensor demonstrated limits of agreement (LOA) of [-0.13; 0.03]°C under 1-m/s-wind convection in phantom experiments.
• In a preliminary human trial, the sensor achieved LOA of [-0.18; 0.22]°C under varying daily-life convection conditions.
• The proposed heat-flux-path control structure effectively minimized heat-flux loss and improved accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The fabricated wearable sensor provides accurate and reliable wireless core body temperature (CBT) measurements.
• The integrated design and heat-flux control structure make the sensor suitable for long-term monitoring in real-world conditions.
• This technology offers a promising non-invasive solution for continuous physiological monitoring.