Engineers and neuroscientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable fingertip patch that continuously monitors Parkinson's disease medication levels using chemicals in sweat, according to a July 27 announcement. The device does not require batteries and provides measurements comparable to standard laboratory blood tests.
The technology, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is designed to help doctors customize daily medication schedules for patients at home. The patch specifically tracks levodopa, a common drug used to manage motor control loss in Parkinson's disease. Dosing is challenging: too little levodopa leaves patients unable to move, while too much can cause severe jerking movements. As the disease progresses, the window for effective treatment narrows significantly.
Currently, clinicians rely on patient diaries to adjust dosing schedules; however, these subjective methods may miss dangerous gaps in medication delivery. The new device offers continuous real-time monitoring of levodopa concentrations.
The research was led by Tamoghna Saha, a postdoctoral researcher in Joseph Wang’s lab at the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The engineering team collaborated with Irene Litvan’s lab from the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine as part of an ongoing project focused on wearable levodopa monitors for personalized care.
Worn on the fingertip where sweat glands are most dense, the patch uses an absorbent gel containing salts and solvents that draw out sweat. When levodopa comes into contact with enzymes embedded in the patch, it triggers a chemical reaction generating measurable voltage—both powering the device and indicating drug levels: lower voltage means low levels and higher voltage means high levels.
Clinical tests involving healthy volunteers and Parkinson’s patients showed that individuals with Parkinson’s clear levodopa faster than healthy individuals, a finding which may explain sudden deterioration in symptoms. Researchers said this technology could lay groundwork for closed-loop systems where such patches communicate directly with pumps delivering precise doses when needed.
