MIT develops a wearable patch that detects heart failure and sepsis early
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will lead a four-year project, funded with up to $38 million by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), to develop a noninvasive wearable patch that detects heart failure and sepsis early.
The project, called PYTHIA, will create a sensor that measures biomarkers of both diseases in real time in interstitial fluid, the fluid found under the skin. The patch will run on heat from the patient's own body and deliver clinical-grade information to help clinicians diagnose before the diseases cause irreversible damage.
Heart failure and sepsis were chosen for their lethality: heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, while sepsis kills at least 350,000 American adults each year and is the leading cause of death in hospitals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The device could also track a patient's recovery after hospital discharge and help clinicians design more effective treatments. Because the patch will continuously measure a huge amount of data, it will include artificial intelligence models built into the chip to turn raw data into useful information for clinicians.
"This is kind of like having the patient give a blood test every 15 minutes or so, but it happens automatically. That is the power of this technology," explained principal investigator Ahmad Bahai, a professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The team will start by developing and testing the electronic components of the tiny, low-power chip and then advance the device through preclinical and clinical trials, with the goal of scaling it commercially and manufacturing it. The project is part of ARPA-H's Delphi program, which seeks devices that safely and continuously monitor the body's internal health signals.
Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro