Johns Hopkins students build SweatSense wearable to track kidney health
A student team at Johns Hopkins has built SweatSense, a wearable that tracks kidney health just by analyzing your sweat.
Instead of conventional blood and urine tests, this device uses a chemical reaction and a color sensor to estimate urea levels in sweat and shows the results on a digital dashboard.
It's designed for older adults and anyone at risk of chronic kidney disease, but the tech is eye-catching for anyone who loves smart gadgets.
SweatSense wins Dean's Design Award, unvalidated
SweatSense just won the 2026 Dean's Design Award, but it is not ready for clinics yet: it still needs to prove it matches up with standard blood tests.
If future assessments go well, SweatSense could make checking your kidneys as easy as checking your blood pressure at home.
For now, it is experimental but definitely one to watch!