There is one less thing to sweat about…

A smart sweatband gives medical technicians instant information that once required hours of lab work.

A small sensor array, that can fit inside a sweatband or the back of a watch, measures changes in a person's sweat and sends the information to a handheld device. Technicians can immediately diagnose dehydration, muscle fatigue, and other body changes brought on by intense physical activity.

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"Sweat provides us with a wealth of information about our body's condition," engineering professor Ali Javey, who headed the sweat sensor's design, said in the video below.

Javey's team at the University of California, Berkeley designed the device to measure four different chemicals in a person's sweat: sodium, potassium, glucose, and lactate. By measuring their levels — individually or in combinations — they were able to determine the changes going on inside the bodies of people wearing the device while they exercised.

Previously, to get the same information, technicians had to gather a blood sample and measure the same chemical levels in a lab — a process that usually took hours.

Individuals can use the sweat sensor to monitor their hydration levels at the gym, or athletic team medics can use it to monitor the conditions of players on a court, track, or field.

But its developers say the sweat sensor could have far more uses including monitoring the stress levels of astronauts or critical care patients.

Javey and his team published the results of their early tests of the sensor in the the January 28 issue of the journal Nature.

(WATCH the video below or READ more at Spectrum) — Photo: Berkeley News video