World´s Smallest Wearable Made to Help Prevent Skin Cancer

Wearables are devices that incorporate and interact with different parts of our bodies and perform a specific task. The tasks can be to improve our health (count steps, heart rate etc.) or to make our life easier (GPS, smartwatches etc.). Technology industry has dominated the wearable market since its easier for a technology company to produce technologic devices, but other companies have joined the trend and now companies in the textile, fashion and medical industry started producing their own wearables with specific purposes. L’Oréal the world leader on makeup, cosmetics skin care etc. has now joined the race.

In a research project with Northwestern university, the world´s smallest wearable was created. Measuring less than an M&M in circumference and weighting less than a raindrop this device was designed to measure UV exposure of the user to reduce skin cancer by modulating their exposure to the sun. UV Sense has no battery, no moving parts, its waterproof, and it can be attached to any part of the body preferably a location with good sun exposure.

The device connects to an app that shows you the exposure you have had in a day or over a period. Also, the app can be configured to send notifications when users exceed daily safe sun limit.

According to the skin cancer foundation “Each year in the U.S over 5.4 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer are treated in more than 3 million people, and each year there are more new cases of skin cancer”, but with this device skin cancer could be prevented instead of treated. The researchers at Northwestern have received roughly 2 million grant from the National institutes of Health to deploy fingernail UV sensors.

The device is undetectable which will encourage people to use it, and as it requires no batteries, users do not need to worry about charging the device or forgetting to do so. This means that people can now be warned about sun exposure and will be able to take measures to prevent diseases with no effort at all. The same research team is also working on other devices that could help check other health aspects to increase awareness about different diseases and the daily activities that may cause them.

[Source]

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