HONOLULU — The University of Hawaii at Manoa’s 3D-printed wearable sweat sensor has been recognized as one of the world’s most promising health care innovations of 2023, according to IN-PART, a platform that connects the industry with innovative impact-driven technologies in academia.

Over 8,500 innovations from a wide range of campuses, such as Cornell University, Texas Tech University System and Nagoya University, were analyzed. UH Manoa’s sweat sensor ranked No. 5 based on introduction requests, positive feedback and article reads.

Created by Assistant Professor Tyler Ray in UH Manoa’s College of Engineering, the sensor collects and analyzes sweat to provide “vital health insights or diagnose serious conditions like cystic fibrosis,” according to a UH Manoa release. The utilization of 3D-printing technology paves the way for accessible and convenient personal health monitoring.

“As our group seeks to advance health equity through improved access to preventative technologies, it’s gratifying to see our sweat sensor research recognized as a promising innovation,” said Ray. “However, much work remains to fully realize the promise of our platform as our ultimate goal is to pioneer digital health tools that detect conditions early and holistically preserve human health.”

UH Manoa is committed to supporting entrepreneurship and fostering innovation with recently launched programs such as Patents2Products and Faculty Fellows from the UH Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.

These programs train students and faculty to translate research into commercial technologies to create a pathway from idea to lab to market.

Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.