KarunaNews Story

Chronic stress can lead to increased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, decreased immune function, depression, and anxiety. Now a dental floss sensor means monitoring stress can be part of peoples’ daily routine at home. Sameer Sonkusale, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Tufts, says electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers offer potential for detecting multiple biomarkers in saliva at the same time. While the dental floss sensor is quantitatively highly accurate, tracking markers in saliva is best for monitoring, not for initial diagnosis, he says. The research adds to innovations by the team including sensors that can detect gases, metabolites in sweat, or movement when embedded in clothing and transistors that can be woven into flexible electronic devices.