At a Glance
Researchers created a âsweat stickerâ for measuring chloride concentrations in sweat, a sign of cystic fibrosis.
The sticker could allow earlier and more reliable diagnoses.
A healthy infant modeling a device developed to diagnose cystic fibrosis by measuring chloride concentrations in sweat.Northwestern University
Cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-shortening genetic disorder, affects about 30,000 people nationwide. People with CF have a faulty protein that affects the glands that make mucus and sweat, causing problems in the lungs and other organs. Maintaining quality of life and extending life expectancy depends on early diagnosis.
One of the characteristic features of CF is excessive chloride in sweat. Measuring sweat chloride remains the gold standard for CF diagnosis. Typically, this involves collecting sweat in a device strapped to the wrist. The collected sweat is then transferred to a separate device for chloride measurement. But this approach often produces too little sweat to get a reliable measurement, particularly in infants.