Continuous THERmal monitoring with wearable mid-InfraRed sensors.
Body temperature (BT) is one of the most important vital signs for evaluating human health. Abnormal BT patterns are key indicators for the prognosis of various illnesses and the most common symptoms of defensive immune responses. The early identification of these patterns, however, requires systems capable of continuous monitoring of the core body temperature (CBT). This task cannot be pursued by simple wrist bracelets or single skin temperature probes that can largely underestimate the value and fluctuations of CBT, which is instead typically measured by invasive thermometers.
THERmIR proposes an alternative solution that relies on the development of wearable and stitchable optical temperature sensors, capable of monitoring skin temperature by harvesting the infrared (IR) radiation emitted by the human body, whose emissivity spectrum is maximum in the mid-infrared (mIR) range. We will employ large-area graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition as the active material to devise efficient optical temperature sensors. This strategy allows for the scalable realization of skin-like, flexible, non-invasive thermometers that can be applied to multiple locations on the skin, minimizing the discomfort and maximizing the system efficiency and portability.