2020-392 A Non-Invasive and In-Situ Encrypted Molecular-Level Information Collection and Authentication System

SUMMARY

UCLA researchers in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed a portable health device that can simultaneously and non-invasively collect multiple users’ fingerprint (via one touch fingertip sensing) and biomarker data for personal health and wellness monitoring. By using a user’s unique fingerprint pattern, the device can identify, authenticate and even encrypt an individual’s data without further user intervention or additional materials.

BACKGROUND

From watches that track fitness levels to portable devices that monitor blood pressure, portable health devices have become increasingly popular amongst people who want to monitor their own health and fitness. These devices, however, are unable to measure biomarkers (e.g., metabolites, such as sugar or caffeine), a big part of health and wellness. In addition, the data that is collected by the devices are not individualized, meaning a user needs to purchase his or her own device to see any long term patterns or trends. Even if individual monitors are purchased, the collected data is not protected, adding risk for use. There is a need for a secure platform that can collect data from multiple individuals while being able to identify individual user data.

INNOVATION

UCLA researchers have developed a personalized health device that can non-invasively sample, identify and securely record an individual’s biomarkers. The device can be used in various accessible locations, such as car/office/airports, for public use while using their unique fingerprint to identify, authenticate and encrypt the biomarker data without further user intervention or materials. The system uses sensing nodes to measure metabolites in a non-invasive way and, with continued testing, can be redesigned for a wide variety of uses such as a portable drug testing and as a diagnostic tool for medical professionals.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

• Monitor and track different biomarkers (e.g. metabolites, such as sugar or caffeine),
• Testing of lab animals to track various biomolecules
• Portable drug testing
• Diagnostic

ADVANTAGES

• Multiple users while maintaining ability to identify individual users without additional user intervention or materials
• Portable format
• Non-invasive
• Implementable in public
• Car/office/airports
• Measurements can be conducted on multiple skin locations

RELATED MATERIALS

• Lin, S.; Wang, B.; Zhao, Y.; Shih, R.; Cheng, X.; Yu, W.; Hojaiji, H.; Lin, H.; Hoffman, C.; Ly, D.; Tan, J.; Chen, Y.; Di Carlo, D.; Milla, C.; Emaminejad, S. Natural Perspiration Sampling And In Situ Electrochemical Analysis With Hydrogel Micropatches For User-Identifiable And Wireless Chemo/Biosensing. ACS Sensors 2019.

STATUS OF DEVELOPMENT

The research team has a working device and has already shown that it can reliably measure the concentration of various biomolecules.