Development of a novel non-invasive and continuous blood lactate monitoring method using percutaneous sweat lactate sensor

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K15385
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 52010:General internal medicine-related
• Research Institution: Gifu University
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Takatomo 岐阜大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (30509435)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 汗中乳酸 / 心肺運動負荷試験 / 心臓リハビリテーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Measurement of blood lactate levels can be useful in routine clinical practice, for example in the primary prevention of cerebral cardiovascular disease and in the prescription of exercise therapy for the secondary prevention of cardiac disease. However, there is currently no method for sustained monitoring of blood lactate levels. Recently, a wearable device has been developed to visualize the concentration of lactic acid in sweat by simply attaching it to the skin. In the present study, we showed that this novel wearable device can be used to determine the timing of lactate rise in blood during exercise in healthy subjects, and it correlates well with the anaerobic threshold measured by the conventional cardiopulmonary exercise test.

Free Research Field

循環器内科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、デバイスを皮膚に貼付するだけで血中乳酸濃度を測定するという世界初の試みという点で意義がある。これは従来の侵襲的かつ非持続的な呼気ガス分析検査や観血的検査とは全く異なるアプローチである。この技術の確立により新たな臨床検査として汎用される可能性を開くことができる。運動療法において適切な有酸素運動を決定する際に必要な明確で客観的な指標を臨床現場に提供することができ、さらに患者へのフィードバックも容易になる。その結果、患者の重症化予防、治療成績向上、予後改善に寄与できる可能性があり、医療費削減にも寄与できると考えられる。これらの点で社会的意義がある。