Publisher Health

Ever wonder if the latest and greatest artificial intelligence (AI) tool you read about in the morning paper is going to save your life? A new study published in JAMA led by John W. Ayers, Ph.D., of the Qualcomm Institute within the University of California San Diego, finds that question can be difficult to answer since AI products in healthcare do not universally undergo any externally evaluated approval process assessing how it might benefit patient outcomes before coming to market.
The research team evaluated the recent White House Executive Order that instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop new AI-specific regulatory strategies addressing equity, safety, privacy, and quality for AI in healthcare before April 27, 2024. However, team members were surprised to find the order did not once mention patient outcomes, the standard metric by which healthcare products are judged before being allowed to access the healthcare marketplace.
“The goal of medicine is to save lives,” said Davey Smith, M.D., head of the Division of Infectious Disease and Global Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, co-director of the university’s Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, and study senior author. “AI tools should prove clinically significant improvements in patient outcomes before they are widely adopted.”
According to the team, AI-powered early warning systems for sepsis, a fatal acute illness among hospitalized patients that affects 1.7 million Americans each year, demonstrates the consequences of inadequate prioritization of patient outcomes in regulations. A third-party evaluation of the most widely adopted AI sepsis prediction model revealed 67% of patients who developed sepsis were not identified by the system. Would hospital administrators have chosen this sepsis prediction system if trials assessing patient outcomes data were mandated, the team wondered, considering the array of available early warning systems for sepsis?
“We are calling for a revision to the White House Executive Order that prioritizes patient outcomes when regulating AI products,” added John W. Ayers, Ph.D., who is deputy director of informatics in Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute in addition to his Qualcomm Institute affiliation. “Similar to pharmaceutical products, AI tools that impact patient care should be evaluated by federal agencies for how they improve patients’ feeling, function, and survival.”
The team points to its 2023 study in JAMA Internal Medicine on using AI-powered chatbots to respond to patient messages as an example of what patient outcome-centric regulations can achieve. “A study comparing standard care versus standard care enhanced by AI conversational agents found differences in downstream care utilization in some patient populations, such as heart failure patients,” said Nimit Desai, B.S., who is a research affiliate at the Qualcomm Institute, UC San Diego School of Medicine student, and study coauthor. “But studies like this don’t just happen unless regulators appropriately incentivize them. With a patient outcomes-centric approach, AI for patient messaging and all other clinical applications can truly enhance people’s lives.”
The team recognizes that its proposed regulatory strategy can be a significant lift for AI and healthcare industry partners and may not be necessary for every flavor of AI use case in healthcare. However, the researchers say, excluding patient outcomes-centric rules in the White House Executive Order is a serious omission.

Angioedema is a rare but potentially life-threatening adverse reaction to ACE inhibitors. In a joint analysis of eight European study collectives, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for the first time conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with more than 1,000 affected individuals. They identified a total of three risk loci in the genome. These included a new locus that had not previously been associated with the risk of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema. The results of the study have now been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors — ACE inhibitors for short — are effective antihypertensive drugs. They block the formation of the hormone angiotensin II, which plays a central role in the development of high blood pressure. On the other hand, these drugs increase the concentration of the vasoactive signaling substance bradykinin. Among other things, this can lead to acute swelling of the skin or mucous membranes. In general, such swellings are not life-threatening. However, if they affect the tongue, throat or larynx, angioedema can be life-threatening for the patient due to the potential risk of suffocation.
Research to date suggests that susceptibility to such drug-induced angioedema is influenced by hereditary as well as lifestyle and environmental factors. “However, the understanding of the underlying biological processes, i.e. the pathophysiology, and thus the individual risk assessment is still limited. The identification of the responsible genes will provide completely new insights here,” says Prof. Markus Nöthen, Director of the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB and member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) “Life & Health” at the University of Bonn, describing the motivation to take a closer look at the occurrence of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema.
Which biological processes play a role in ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema?
Based on data from eight European study collectives, the team from Bonn, together with cooperation partners, conducted the first GWAS with more than 1,000 patients with ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema. They identified a total of three loci in the genome that are associated with the risk of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema. “While two of the loci have already been described in previous studies, our study was the first to demonstrate a significant association for a new locus on chromosome 20,” explains corresponding author Prof. Andreas Forstner from the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB and the University of Bonn and at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at the Research Center Jülich. “Through further bioinformatic analyses, we were able to identify several candidate genes at the three risk loci indicating that genetic changes in the bradykinin, coagulation and fibrinolysis signaling play a role in the development of this type of angioedema,” adds first author Carina Mathey, doctoral student at the Institute of Human Genetics at the UKB and the University of Bonn.
The current study provides a starting point for further studies with new insights into the genetic basis and potential biological mechanisms underlying ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema. “The identification of further risk loci through a continuous expansion of the GWAS study collectives in combination with functional analyses and the evaluation of lifestyle and environmental factors will make an important contribution to the development of new approaches for prevention, diagnostics and therapy in the long term,” says Prof. Bernhardt Sachs from the BfArM.

New Curtin University-led research has estimated that 1454 avoidable deaths (one person every five days) occurred in Australian capital cities in the past 20 years because of fine particle air pollution from extreme events such as bushfires and dust storms, wood-heater smoke or industrial accidents.
The study also found that nearly one-third of deaths from extreme air pollution exposure days could be prevented if pollution events were reduced by as little as 5 per cent.
Lead researcher Dr Lucas Hertzog from Curtin’s World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Climate Change and Health Impact Assessment said the findings highlighted the urgent need for effective strategies to manage air quality, particularly during extreme weather events like bushfires and dust storms, which are becoming more common due to climate change.
“Using data from 2001 to 2020 from air pollution monitoring sites, combined with a range of satellite and land use-related data, we modelled the exposure to exceptional levels of particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5) for each extreme pollution exposure day,” Dr Hertzog said.
“Despite relatively low daily PM2.5 levels generally (compared to global averages), Australian cities experience days with extreme pollution levels where PM2.5 concentrations exceed the WHO Air Quality Guideline standard.
“Sydney and Melbourne reported the highest number of deaths attributable to extreme air pollution events, with 541 and 438 deaths respectively, followed by Brisbane and Perth with 171 and 132 deaths.”
“Adelaide and Hobart were the cities that showed, across the 20-year period, fewer days exceeding WHO air quality exposure recommendations, with Adelaide recording only five days and Hobart 11 days above the threshold.

“Darwin, despite its relatively low number of deaths due to PM2.5 exposure events, experienced a high number of days exceeding WHO recommendations, ten times more than cities like Melbourne.”
Dr Hertzog said the findings show how extreme air pollution events could seriously affect health in urban areas, and understanding this link was crucial, as climate change may increase the frequency and intensity of such pollution events.
“Diseases associated with particulate matter air pollution include asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as well as cardiovascular disorders,” Dr Hertzog said.
“Our study’s insights can aid in protecting public health by helping to inform policy development and actions to reduce impacts from extreme air pollution events.
“While responding to bushfires and dust storms is an increasingly challenging task, authorities have a crucial role in land use management. They also regulate energy policy and control wood heater regulations. Additional strategies to reduce emissions from industrial accidents or road transport-related smog events could enhance the control of sources of air pollution and improve well-being.
“It is also possible to reduce the burden of mortality by improving public health warnings and increasing community awareness of smoke avoidance behaviours.”
The research was supported by funding from the Healthy Environments and Lives Network — National Health and Medical Research Council Special Initiative in Human Health and Environmental Change, the Centre for Safe Air and the Australian Research Data Commons Air Health Data Bridges project.

A snippet of hair can reveal a pregnant person’s stress level and may one day help warn of unexpected birth problems, a study indicates.
Washington State University researchers measured the stress hormone cortisol in hair samples of 53 women in their third trimester. Of that group, 13 women who had elevated cortisol levels later experienced unpredicted birth complications, such as an early birth or hemorrhaging.
While more research is needed with larger groups, this preliminary finding could eventually lead to a non-invasive way to identify those at risk for such complications. The researchers reported their findings in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
“There was otherwise nothing about these women that would suggest a disease or anything else complicating the pregnancy. This confirmed some hypotheses that levels of stress, related specifically to cortisol levels, might be associated with adverse birth outcomes,” said Erica Crespi, a WSU developmental biologist and the study’s corresponding author.
As part of the study, the participants all answered survey questions about their levels of psychological distress in addition to having cortisol measurements taken in the third trimester of pregnancy and after they gave birth. The women who experienced unexpected birth complications had elevated cortisol concentrations in their hair, a measure that indicates the stress hormone’s circulating levels in the body during the three months prior to collection. These women also reported feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, but on average, only high cortisol levels during pregnancy showed a strong link to adverse birth outcomes.
Cortisol, a steroid hormone, rises in humans and many animals to help regulate the body’s response to stress, but prolonged high cortisol is associated with major health problems including high blood pressure and diabetes. Throughout pregnancy, cortisol levels naturally rise two to four times and peak during the third trimester, but the measurements in this study showed even more pronounced elevated cortisol levels among the women who had unexpected birth complications.
“If this finding holds up, it could be a non-invasive way to get greater insight into who might be at risk because it is information we didn’t get from the survey,” said co-author Sara Waters, a WSU human development researcher. “This was not something we could find out just from asking people about their stress.”
Two months after giving birth, the group that experienced birth complications continued to show elevated cortisol and gave survey answers indicating continued stress, anxiety and depression. At six months, their cortisol remained elevated, but they started to report lower psychological distress on the survey, which the authors noted might be a sign of recovery.

Finding ways to reduce stress around birth could help improve outcomes for both infants and mothers, the researchers said. They point out that adverse birth outcomes are rising in the country. The U.S. also notoriously has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries, with deaths disproportionately impacting Black women and other people of color.
More needs to be done to improve healthcare and support systems for pregnant people and new parents, Waters said. This study is also a reminder to expectant and new mothers to prioritize their health.
“It’s very easy to sacrifice our own health and well-being to prioritize our children’s, especially when it feels like resources are scarce,” said Waters. “But our ability to show up as parents comes from a foundation of getting our needs met too — like the saying, ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup.'”
This study involved an interdisciplinary research team at WSU. In addition to Crespi and Waters, co-authors include first author Jennifer Madigan, a Ph.D. candidate in stress physiology research; Maria Gartstein, a psychology professor; Jennifer Mattera, a psychology Ph.D. student; and Chris Connelly, an associate professor of kinesiology. This research received support from a WSU Grand Challenges Grant as well as interdisciplinary grants from the WSU College of Arts and Sciences, and the WSU Office of Research.

Brain function depends on the swift movement of electrical signals along axons, the long extensions of nerve cells that connect billions of brain cells. The nerve fibers are insulated by a fatty layer called myelin, which is produced by specialized cells called oligodendrocytes. These cells wrap around and insulate nerve fibers ensuring the rapid and efficient transmission of signals that is essential for brain function.
Oligodendrocytes sense and respond to the electrical signals
Now, a team of neuroscientists led by Aiman Saab at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Zurich (UZH) has discovered a new central function of these myelin-forming cells in the mouse brain. “We found that oligodendrocytes not only detect the signals from active nerve fibers, but also respond to them by immediately accelerating their consumption of glucose, a primary energy source,” says Saab. In this way, the oligodendrocytes deliver energy-rich molecules to the rapidly firing axons to support their dynamic energy needs.
Potassium is key signal that activates oligodendrocytes
To understand how electrically active axons communicate with their surrounding oligodendrocytes, the researchers studied the mouse optic nerve, an ideal pathway for stimulating and monitoring the electrical activity of myelinated axons. To trigger axonal firing and to observe how oligodendrocytes respond to this activity, they used tiny biosensors: engineered proteins that serve as microscopic detectors of molecular changes. “Using a variety of chemicals and inhibitors, we were able to show that potassium, released by axons during firing, is the key signal that activates the oligodendrocytes,” says Zoe Looser, the first author of the study.
Missing potassium channels lead to nerve fiber damage
The researchers also identified a specific potassium channel called “Kir4.1” as a key player in the communication between nerve fibers and oligodendrocytes. To study their role, the team used genetically modified mice that lacked these channels in their oligodendrocytes. In these mice, axons surrounded by oligodendrocytes without these potassium channels showed reduced lactate levels, a key byproduct of glucose metabolism, and a diminished response in lactate surge upon activation. “These changes were associated with reduced glucose metabolism in nerve fibers and ultimately led to severe axon damage as the mice aged,” adds Looser.
How age and diseases affect nerve fiber health
The findings underscore the essential role of oligodendrocytes in regulating the metabolic processes within axons that are vital for sustaining healthy brain connections. Glucose not only fuels nerve fibers but also supports protective mechanisms against oxidative stress. “Disruptions in axonal glucose metabolism due to oligodendrocyte dysfunction could lead to nerve damage, which is a concern in aging and several neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease,” says Aiman Saab. The next step is to understand how the regulation of glucose by oligodendrocytes affects specific functions of the nerve fibers, with a particular focus on their health during aging and neurological disorders.

Traditional genome editing faced limitations in achieving ultimate precision until now. Prof. Buchholz’s team has broken through this barrier by creating what many have sought after: a zinc-finger conditioned recombinase. This innovative approach involves integrating a zinc-finger DNA-binding domain into specially designed recombinases. These enzymes remain inactive until the DNA-binding domain engages with its target site, adjacent to the recombinase binding area.
The significance of this achievement lies in the fusion of two key strengths: the targeting ease of programmable nucleases and the precise DNA editing capabilities of recombinases. This breakthrough overcomes existing limitations in genome editing techniques and holds vast promise for therapeutic gene editing and various biomedical applications.
Prof. Buchholz expresses his enthusiasm, stating, “This breakthrough represents a harmonization of existing genome editing tools, allowing us to create precision enzymes independent of natural DNA repair mechanisms. This marks a significant step towards a safer and more adaptable approach of correcting disease-causing genetic mutations, offering immense benefits for numerous patients.”
This pioneering work opens new horizons in genome surgery and promises a safer, more precise approach to treating genetic disorders. The implications of this breakthrough extend far and wide, potentially transforming the landscape of medicine as we know it. In this context, Professor Esther Troost, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, emphasizes, “The Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden is setting new standards for innovative medicine with groundbreaking genome editing tools. Under the leadership of Prof. Frank Buchholz, the research team is breaking traditional boundaries and paving the way for specialized gene therapy applications.”
Building upon these advancements, Seamless Therapeutics GmbH, a biotechnology company founded out of the Buchholz lab, will advance these innovative findings to therapeutic application. The company has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the TU Dresden for this novel technology that allows Seamless to further expand their recombinase platform to change the paradigm of gene editing and develop a pipeline of disease-modifying product candidates across a broad spectrum of indications.

A new type of E. coli that is both highly infectious and resistant to some antibiotics has been discovered.
The newly identified mutation of antibiotic-resistant E. coli is described in a new paper in Nature Communications. The team, including Professor Alan McNally from the University of Birmingham suggests that some existing antibiotics called carbapenems will be ineffective against the bacteria.
While scientists have already identified strains of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli (CREC) and note that is one of the most problematic AMR bacteria in circulation, with the ST410 version becoming the most common resistant E. coli in Chinese hospitals between 2017-2021. Now, the discovery of a stronger and more infectious version of ST410 CREC, called ‘B5/H24RxC’, has been implicated in two outbreaks in a children’s hospital in China.
Analysis of the B5/H24RxC strain in a lab showed the bacteria was able to grow faster and was more harmful to living organisms than previous versions.
Professor Alan McNally, Director of Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham and an author of the study said:
“It has often been thought that the E. coli that evolve to be most resistant to antibiotics do so at the cost of being able to cause infections in humans. Our incredibly important collaboration with our partners in China, funded by the MRC, has allowed us to discover and characterise this new clone of E. coli which is becoming both more antimicrobial resistant and more pathogenic.
“This is a worrying new trend and we would now urge surveillance labs across the world to be on the look out for this new clone which we know has spread beyond China.”
Samples from hospitals across 26 Chinese provinces between 2017 and 2021 were used to examine how widespread antibiotic-resistant E. coli was.

Using a total of 388 CREC isolates from various clinical samples including urine, sputum and blood, the team were able to identify that ST410 was the most common CREC, and given that the highest proportion of samples (111) were taken from urine, that there may be a connection to urinary tract infections.
Dr Ibrahim Xiaoling Ba, Senior Research Associate in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge, and first author of the paper said:
“Our study highlights the evolving landscape of antimicrobial resistance within clinically significant pathogens, such as E. coli, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative efforts to address and mitigate this escalating challenge in global public health.”

The world of online dating can be overwhelming with the dizzying array of options for attracting a partner but new research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that those looking for love may have more success if they also seek a sense of purpose in life.
Researcher Isabella D’Ottone, in the lab of Patrick Hill, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences, published a study about how that sense of purpose can affect how others may rate dating app profiles. Those whose profiles show a sense of purpose were rated higher on various scales for attractiveness compared with profiles that indicated no sense of purpose.
“In general we found people with a higher purpose were considered to be more romantically attractive,” said Isabella D’Ottone, co-author of the study with Hill and Gabrielle Pfund that was published in the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology.
D’Ottone, who completed the research as an undergraduate in Hill’s lab, did the study to build on Pfund’s previous research on how a sense of purpose also aligns with maintaining better long-term relationships. D’Ottone earned a bachelor’s degree and Pfund a PhD from WashU, both in 2022.
For this study, they focused on four categories of “sense of purpose” and created four dating profiles to match each category, along with five control profiles that indicated no sense of purpose. The researchers set up a study with 119 participants who each read and ranked the nine fake profiles on various measures of attractiveness.
The four “purpose” categories were prosocial orientation, relationship orientation, financial orientation and creative orientation. Prosocial means someone with goals related to helping others; relationship orientation means goals are centered around family and finding a romantic partner; financial orientation are goals related to financial security; and creative orientation are goals focused on creativity and originality.
In addition to rating the purpose-driven profiles higher than those lacking purpose, participants also rated profiles higher if they shared the same purpose orientation. For example, people with a creative purpose will be drawn to others with creative focus and so on. One caveat to sense of purpose appeal: The financially focused profiles did not rate as high compared with the other categories of purpose except when ranked by study participants who also found themselves to be financially motivated.

In other words, having your focus being on financial success could be a turn-off for people unless they too find purpose in financial goals.
“In general, looking at all the purpose profiles, people were not as attracted to the financially oriented person,” said D’Ottone, who is a research associate at the University of Miami.
Hillnoted that this study was a “phenomenal” project for an undergraduate to take on and it builds on the lab’s work on why sense of purpose is connected to better relationships.
It’s not just about physical attraction, Hill said, but also about recognizing someone who has direction in life.
“When it comes to attraction, knowing someone has a direction matters,” he said.
D’Ottone’s work speaks to how people are picking up on sense of purpose and factoring that into how they are attracted to others, whether they are aware of that or not, he added.
“We actually seek out people with a purpose,” he said.
This research could also be helpful in designing dating apps, Hill said. The current roster of dating apps includes prompts and ice breakers to get conversations started, but sites could include a purpose-driven component to those prompts.
D’Ottone noted that this isn’t about faking a passion for something but, maybe finding love where you don’t expect it. Chasing a special someone may end with a mismatch, “but chasing your passions, you might find that person along the way,” she said.

A new study has found that the brain system enabling us to inhibit our own pain changes with age, and that gender-based differences in those changes may lead females to be more sensitive to moderate pain than males as older adults.
Researchers used fMRI scans to examine brain responses in men and women who had rated the intensity and unpleasantness of pain during exposure to increasing levels of heat. The results suggested that established gender differences in pain perception could likely be traced at least in part to this brain network, and offered new evidence that those gender differences may become more disparate with age.
“The most novel part of this study is looking at gender by age,” said lead study author Michelle Failla, assistant professor in the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University. “Most of the work characterizing which regions in the brain respond to pain have been done in people aged 18 to 40. We want to understand what’s happening between the ages of 30 and 90 years old because that’s when people are beginning to experience chronic pain.”
The study was published recently in The Journal of Pain.
Plenty of previous research has shown that females are more sensitive to pain than males, but the brain regions and functions behind the gender differences in pain perception have mostly remained a mystery. And in later adulthood, when risk for chronic pain is higher and our tolerance for pain drops, even less about the brain’s role in pain perception is known.
In this study, the researchers specified that they holistically examined gender-based differences that may relate not just to biological sex, but also to social factors that influence how people respond to pain.
The imaging component of the study zeroed in on the descending pain modulatory system (DPMS), a hub of brain regions that communicate with each other to engage signal transmission — including activation of opioid receptors — that enables us to reduce our own pain.

The study sample included 27 females and 32 males between ages 30 and 86 who were asked to report when applied heat reached levels of just-noticeable, weak and moderate pain and to rate how unpleasant each level felt. Researchers used the fMRI imaging to observe DPMS activity that corresponded with each participant’s individual pain response.
“There are different brain regions involved in those distinctions between perception of pain intensity and unpleasantness, so we thought it was important to look at both and see how those brain regions are recruited during pain,” said Failla, also an investigator in the Center for Healthy Aging, Self-Management and Complex Care in Ohio State’s College of Nursing.
Results showed that a few regions within the brain’s pain modulatory system did indicate a gender-by-age difference: At the moderate pain level, men showed an increased DPMS response with older age, while as women aged, the DPMS response decreased. A decreased response in the brain is presumed to translate into a lower ability to harness our own physiological functions to reduce our pain.
Presumed is a key word: While the DPMS is believed to have a significant role in pain sensitivity and tolerance, researchers are still working toward describing exactly how it works and how an intact versus dysfunctional system shows up in scans.
“We don’t know exactly what is an optimum DPMS response,” Failla said. “Are we seeing it activated to catch up with your pain, or is it already working, meaning the pain could have been worse?”
The researchers are continuing this work, which includes investigating brain activity in people who may have a difficult time articulating the pain that they’re feeling — such as people with dementia or autism.

The more scientists can learn about the brain’s role in pain perception, the better the chances are for more effective pain management, Failla said.
“Pain is such an individual experience. In science we’re moving toward individual factors that can influence pain specifically and what makes it different for each person,” she said. “This could then identify a mechanism we can target, or even just give us a better understanding that there are different levels of innate abilities to modulate pain.”
This study was conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and was supported by a National Institute on Aging grant awarded to co-authors Todd Monroe of Ohio State and Ronald Cowan of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Other co-authors include Paul Beach of Emory University, Sebastian Atalla of the University of North Carolina, and Mary Dietrich and Stephen Bruehl of Vanderbilt University.

Hey superhero fans, meet the researchers making real life Iron Man technology possible. In a new study, engineers from Korea and the United States have developed a wearable, stretchy patch that could help to bridge the divide between people and machines — and with benefits for the health of humans around the world.
The patch, about the size of a BandAid, sticks to your skin and picks up tiny signals coming from human muscles. In lab experiments, the researchers showed that humans could use these devices to operate robotic exoskeletons more efficiently — machines that try to mimic, and even enhance, the power of human muscles and bones.
The team hopes that one day, similar patches may help people with mobility issues move robotic arms or legs, or even assist doctors in diagnosing neurological illnesses.
“We get these natural signals from muscles and send them to outside equipment to give people more control,” said Jianliang Xiao, associate professor in Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Xiao led the study alongside Jae-Woong Jeong, associate professor in the School of Electrical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The team described its design, known as the stretchable microneedle adhesive patch (SNAP), this month in the journal Science Advances.
The secret to SNAP comes down to what the researchers call “microneedles.” The patches are integrated with an array of about 144 needles. They are made of silicon coated with gold and are less than a hundredth of an inch long, making them hard to see with the naked eye.
The idea of small needles poking your body may sound scary, but the team’s microneedles only enter the top layer of your skin and aren’t long enough to reach the body’s pain sensors. That makes the patches surprisingly comfortable to wear, even for long periods.

“People can wear these patches for a week, and we see hardly any skin irritation,” Jeong said.
Like your own skin
Xiao noted that the human body, just like many machines, is pulsing with electricity on a near constant basis.
Every time you bend your arm, twist your back or even twitch a finger, currents run along your muscle fibers. Doctors typically monitor these electromyography (EMG) signals using gel electrodes that stick onto your skin, but the task can get tricky — gel dries up over time, and when people jump or run, the electrodes often slide around, resulting in poor data.
In the new study, Xiao, Jeong and their colleagues set out to design an EMG sensor that could function almost like a part of your body.
The team’s SNAP devices are self-contained machines made of a stretchy, polymer base. They incorporate stretchable serpentine wires fabricated out of ultrathin metal. They also come with their own batteries and are remarkably resilient: In lab experiments, the group found that the patches collected accurate EMG data, even when human subjects were running on treadmills or doing squats.

“The patch deforms in a way very similar to your own skin,” Xiao said.
Human and machine
They could also help people do some very non-human things.
To test out those possibilities, researchers from KAIST ran a series of experiments in their lab in which they asked real people to take on an everyday task — lifting a heavy weight from the floor. In this case, the humans had a little help. They strapped on a machine that looks a bit like a knapsack and provides a robotic boost for the lower back.
Some of the subjects also wore SNAP devices just above their glute muscles. When the patches detected that the subjects were flexing their muscles during lifting, the devices called for help. They sent a wireless signal to the robotic backpacks to begin moving — all in a fraction of a second. Humans wearing the patches, the team reported, used an average of 18% less muscle power while lifting than subjects who were using the robotic exoskeleton on its own.
“These devices can reduce the muscles you need to accomplish certain tasks,” Xiao said.
He added that the researchers still have a lot of work to do before their patches make it into the real world. For a start, they need to test the tools with other kinds of exoskeleton machines.
Still, Tony Stark may soon not be the only Iron Man in town.
“We hope that our work in the lab will eventually help to make life better for a lot of people,” Xiao said.