This plaster really gets under your skin

A research group headed by Prof. Norbert Gretz at the University Medical Centre Mannheim (UMM) has developed a method of measuring the efficiency of kidneys and other secreting organs via the skin.

The test principle used to date involves putting a substance in the blood circulation and then taking a blood sample to determine what quantum of this substance has not yet been successfully eliminated from the body. The new system jointly developed with the Institute for Medical Technology (IMT) at the University of Heidelberg as well as experts of the Freudenberg Group and Mektec Europe, is placed on the skin.

It transmits a blue light signal to the body tissue at short, regular intervals via an LED. Then a photodiode is used to analyze the optical response in the form of low-wavelength light emitted from the body. A transmitter integrated in the electronics of the plaster passes on the information to a computer. The more intense the response, the more of the injected diagnostic substance is still in the body, thereby allowing conclusions to be drawn as to the efficient functioning of the organ.

Similar to a sticking plaster, this device  finds out what is going inside the bod.

www.umm.uni-heidelberg.de