In four years time, we could have the privilege of running real time stats of our daily workout, streaming it wirelessly to our computers. Only the top-notch athletes get such attention but the researchers over the German Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems believe that everyone deserves a chance to optimize their fitness regime. It is important to know the perfect time before the higher lactate level kicks in converting the pyruvic acid to lactic therefore, the data rendered by the developed sensor prototype (designed as an ear clip) could be invaluable.
The sensor consists of multiple microchips measuring 2 x 3mm. One of these chips contains an enzyme laden gel that triggers flow from the lactate. The rest of the chips use microelectrodes to quantify the data from the first chip. The electrodes on the chip can be coated with various enzymes rendering details of the other blood constituents. It all sounds surreal, but we would be dependent on it to know the right exhaustion limit, in the not so distant future.
Via: Popsci
