New tech detects dehydration by touching a screen
A smartphone-style sensor reads moisture levels in skin, offering a low-cost way to monitor health during fasting, exercise or everyday life.
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The holy month of Ramadan is a sacred time when millions of Muslims around the world embark on a profound spiritual journey of fasting, prayer, and reflection. But it is also a time when many face serious health risks, as going without food or water from sunrise to sunset — often in scorching heat — can lead to dangerous levels of dehydration.
Now, scientists at KAUST have found a surprisingly simple way to track the body’s water levels during fasting: by measuring how skin interacts with a touchscreen.
It is not only useful when fasting. The research team, led by electrical engineer Tareq Al-Naffouri and colleagues at KAUST, showed that the same method applies to athletes, who often experience dehydration due to intense exertion and fluid loss through sweat.
“It is also reasonable to expect that the approach could one day benefit other vulnerable groups, including the very old, the very young, and those with kidney disease,” says Al-Naffouri.
To demonstrate the concept, Al-Naffouri’s team used a basic capacitive sensor — the same type found in smartphone screens — capable of detecting subtle shifts in skin moisture. When a fingertip touches the sensor, it registers changes in skin capacitance, a measure of how well the skin stores electric charge, which varies with hydration levels.
