Wearable Patch Tracks Brain’s Nightly Maintenance
Sleep does more than leave you feeling rested the next morning. While you sleep, your brain activates a waste removal network known as the glymphatic system, flushing away metabolic byproducts that accumulate during the day. Scientists believe this nightly cleanup process could play an important role in protecting against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, but studying it has proven extraordinarily difficult. Now, researchers from Georgia Tech and Seoul National University have developed a soft wearable forehead patch that could allow scientists to monitor this process while people sleep in their own beds.
Resembling a Band-Aid, the experimental deviceis less than a centimeter thick, with a soft silicone body that adheres comfortably to the forehead. It operates wirelessly from a rechargeable battery to prevent any discomfort or inconvenience. Unlike MRI scanners, which are expensive, noisy, and require patients to remain motionless, the patch is designed for repeated overnight use at...
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