IEee spectrum article iontophoresis

November’s IEEE Spectrum is Sweaty

That’s right, this month’s IEEE Spectrum has lots of sweaty people, and details about how we can use sweat to measure the physical state of the human body. It also brings out a really interesting piece of tech I’d never heard of, called Iontophoresis. This process uses an electrically charged pad on the skin, runs a low current through it, and causes the skin to sweat, which will draw the medication down into the dermis. Here’s a PDF of an excellent article by the Physical Therapy Journal that details the methods and challenges of using this particular technology. So they used these sweat-inducing patches to keep that lovely sweat a’flowing. From that, they went on to measure the electrolytes and other chemicals found in the sweat.

There’s also a great article on turning car bodies “see-through” to be able to see blind spots. Even though it takes quite a while for auto manufacturers to get new tech integrated into their vehicles, maybe someday we’ll get them. At least before the cars drive themselves, right?