Development of army relevant wearable Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) biosensors

Access to medical monitoring in the field is primarily limited to physical or electrical measurements such as temperature, heart rate or respiration that readout a soldier’s immediate health. The ability to monitor biomarkers in combination with these measurement can uncover pathways leading to a health event and catch problems before the onset of symptoms. Our goal is to develop a fieldable, wearable PIC device for continuously monitoring small molecules and proteins. Continuous monitoring of biomarkers and physiological analytes is necessary for detecting abnormal fluctuations from baseline and provides real-time responses of human performance or injury. Wearable sensors for continuous monitoring require a combination of traits not seen in sample-based sensor systems including compact size, reversibility and sample replenishment. To accomplish this, we combine our expertise in sensors and photonic integrated circuits to generate a refractive index sensor platform. This approach takes advantage of sensing components and PIC devices to increase their sensitivity and selectivity for biomarkers while maintaining a small footprint required for practicality in the field. Here we report progress in striving to achieve a wearable sensor for continuously monitoring analytes in blood and sweat.