# An Epidermal Microfluidic Screening Panel for Diabetic Kidney Disease

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA · 2024 · $273,875

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT – Research Project Leader: Tyler Ray, PhD
An Epidermal Microfluidic Screening Panel for
Diabetic Kidney Disease
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a common, multifaceted condition affecting an estimated 451 million individuals
worldwide in 2017, with Type-2 DM (T2D) comprising an estimated 90% of the patient population. T2D is
associated with substantial adverse health outcomes, onset of DM-related comorbidities, and premature
mortality. Clinicians have primarily relied upon self-reporting assessments from patients to evaluate adherence
to prescribed treatments. This reliance on self-reported data limits therapeutic development and clinical
interventions. The advent of wearable continuous glucose monitors (CGM) offers enhanced clinical insight by
monitoring the relationship between changes in blood glucose levels and real-world behaviors; however, this is
only a partial window. There is a critical need for improved measurement methods that will evaluate diabetes
associated complications such as
diabetic kidney disease (DKD)
before they occur in the home or activity-
relevant setting. The simultaneous real-time monitoring of other biomarkers in addition to glucose is required to
provide enhanced clinical understanding and intervention for DM-related disorders. Sweat contains a wealth of
biomarkers relevant to health status, including electrolytes, metabolites, organic compounds,
inflammatory/stress biomarkers, proteins and hormones. The potential advantage of personalized assessment
of sweat biomarkers as a noninvasive diagnostic tool for expanding clinical and therapeutic understanding of DM
and DM-related disorders is profound. Unlocking the potential of sweat as a non-invasive target in precision
medicine for DM-related conditions requires the ability to collect and store sweat over time without contamination
from subjects and the ability to quantify various biomarkers from the collected sweat accurately and promptly in
a wearable form-factor. We hypothesize that continuous electrolyte and sweat rate measurements will
provide actionable information for DM-patients both during exercise and during free-living conditions.
To test this hypothesis, we propose to develop a new wearable sensor through three Specific Aims. Aim 1 will
test whether biometric signals relevant to
DKD
can be quantitatively measured in sweat via passive
sampling. This effort will test if identified biochemical analytes present in ultra-low concentrations can be
measured in sweat sampled passively with sufficient precision to serve as markers for
DKD
. Aim 2 will develop
a wearable prototype platform for
DKD
condition monitoring. We will use the sensing requirements identified
in Aim 1 to design sensors for integration into a wearable device form factor to permit sweat analysis without
requiring the use of centralized laboratory facilities and expensive analytical equipment. Aim 3 will characterize
sweat biomarkers as potential quantitative measures of
DKD
....

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10850470
- **Project number:** 2P20GM113134-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
- **Principal Investigator:** Tyler Ray
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $273,875
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2029-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10850470

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10850470, An Epidermal Microfluidic Screening Panel for Diabetic Kidney Disease (2P20GM113134-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10850470. Licensed CC0.

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