UltraSense

The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) is involved in the design of an innovative wearable device that could revolutionise the early detection and monitoring of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, fatty liver and obesity. The system can determine body composition using advanced graphene biosensors that detect biomarkers in sweat.

This technology offers several advantages over existing methods: it is non-invasive, easy to use independently, low-cost, and enables accurate, continuous health monitoring, including remote monitoring. These features make it an excellent tool for personalised medicine strategies and for promoting healthy lifestyles.

This innovation is part of the UltraSense project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, in which ten public and private organisations from six countries are collaborating.

More accessible and sustainable devices

The project aims to provide millions of people with access to UltraSense devices, enabling them to obtain information about their body composition, helping them to improve their lifestyle, reduce obesity and metabolic diseases, and lower the costs associated with their treatment.

To improve environmental sustainability, the devices are based on the synthesis of green, circular materials to reduce carbon dioxide (CO¿) emissions associated with solvent-based processing by more than 70 per cent.

Technology bearing the UPV seal

At the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the head of the UltraSense project is Professor María José Bañuls Polo from the Chemistry Department, who has an outstanding track record in international research projects.

The team she leads focuses on developing advanced biosensors that detect biomarkers of metabolic syndrome in sweat. "Our work involves defining the bioreceptor elements and modifying the graphene surface to recognise the biomarkers with high sensitivity, which lays the foundations for future health monitoring tools that are faster, personalised and minimally invasive."

Assessing the impact of sport and detecting metabolic syndrome

Having completed the initial design and technical definition phases, the research is now moving towards the integration and validation of the various technologies that will form part of the UltraSense device, such as sensor technology, signal processing using artificial intelligence (AI) and the design of advanced flexible and stretchable materials.

The wearable device will be validated in two use cases: the effect of sport on a healthier lifestyle, by monitoring the overall health of people who exercise, and the early detection and continuous monitoring of metabolic syndrome. The data obtained by UltraSense will be presented to the user coherently and reliably, enabling them to seek medical advice when necessary.

It is estimated that half of the European population is overweight and around 16% is obese; therefore, understanding the prevalence of these conditions will enable the assessment of measures to prevent and reduce their health effects and facilitate the development of tools to help maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Participating organisations

The organisations participating in the UltraSense project are the National Technical University of Athens (Greece), Polar Electro Oy (Finland), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Finland), AMIRES (Czech Republic), Graphenea Semiconductor SL (Spain), XTPL Spolka Akcyjna (Poland), Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain), University of Oulu (Finland), Jo?ef Stefan Institute (Slovenia) and Betthera (Czech Republic). The project will run for 48 months and has recently undergone its 18-month review by the European Commission, with a very positive outcome.