An innovation in the field of sensors allows the detection of a person’s dehydration level using the capacitive sensor present in mobile phones.
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In recent years, and in Romania, health care – either through physical exercises or eating – has become more and more important. This trend is visible in many other countries.
The sports halls are full, and on social networks we find hundreds of profiles that inspire us with weight loss, muscle growth or a more balanced lifestyle. However, an essential aspect often remains neglected: hydration.
Researchers at Kaust University in Saudi Arabia have created a technology that could change the way we monitor our hydration level – directly with the phone.
In the following, you will find out how this system works, what promising results has achieved in tests and why it could become a basic tool for athletes, but also for vulnerable people.
How can a simple contact with your phone screen tell you if you’re hydrated
This is the challenge that Professor Tareq al-Naffuri and his team at the University of Science and Technology Abdullah in Saudi Arabia (Kaust) have proposed. The researchers analyzed the capacitive sensors already integrated into the tactile screens of the smartphones.
These sensors detect the natural electric current in the human body and use it to recognize the touch of the skin and activate the functions of the screen.
But now it has been discovered that, by the same contact, information about the water level in the body can be obtained – that is, whether or not a person is correctly hydrated.
The sensors measure the capacitive changes of the skin, that is, its ability to store electrical load. The more dehydrated a person is, the lower this capacity.
The team led by AL-NAFFORI has developed an automatic learning algorithm that transforms these variations into five hydration levels.
The technology was tested on dozens of volunteers, who only had to press their fingers on the capacitive sensor and provide some basic data, such as weight and sex. The tests were performed on both ordinary people and athletes-in the latter case, before and after training.
In total, over 4,000 measurements were carried out, and the results were encouraging, although the technology has not yet been transformed into commercial products.
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Importance of nutrition and hydration: What does the new study teach us
It is not a coincidence that this study was conducted in a university with a large number of Muslim students. Ramadan, an essential component of the Islamic religion, implies a post during the day, which can lead to a certain degree of dehydration.
During this period of about a month, believers do not consume foods or liquids as long as light is out, which, in some cases, can cause imbalances in the body.
Thanks to the new monitoring technologies, based on accessible devices-such as smartphones, which we wear daily-potential risks can be detected faster and more efficiently, even in punctual situations.
This functionality is not only useful for Muslims during the Ramadan period, but also for athletes around the world, which could benefit from a simple, fast and non-invasive method to check their hydration level.
Such sensors can provide clear indications on the moment when hydration is required – even before thirst sensation. It is important to emphasize that dehydration begins much earlier than the classic physiological signal of the thirst.
Professor Tareq al-Naffuri states that: “It is reasonable to expect this approach to be able, one day, to be useful to other vulnerable groups-such as the elderly, children or those with kidney disease. “
This innovation opens the way to a daily, simple and automatic monitoring of one of the most essential factors for our health. And the data obtained so far are more than promising.
AI reading the skin: The sensors in the phone could say how hydrated you are
The new system has demonstrated 87% accuracy for people in the post and 92% in the case of athletes. These results open the way to a new generation of health monitoring technologies, using the devices we already use daily – such as mobile phones.
To carry out the study, the researchers used a development plate FDC2114, equipped with two capacitive sensors, simulating the functionality of the tactile screen of a smartphone. Its purpose was to prove that capacitive technology can reliably differentiate between five distinct levels of hydration. After data collection, they were processed and classified with the help of automatic learning algorithms. The linear logistics regression model (LLR) has proven to be the most accurate in all analyzed groups.
The discoveries confirm that capacitive sensors can detect subtle skin variations, directly influenced by the body’s hydration. The research team claims that in the future, artificial intelligence models adapted to each population group can be developed.
Siumia Siyoucief, a member of the team of researchers, emphasizes: “We can imagine a system of monitoring real -time hydration – daily, easy to use and fully integrated into everyday life.”.
Smart phones and watches will warn us when we are dehydrated
If the development of this technology will continue, it is very likely to see it integrated not only in smartphones, but also in smart watches or in any other capacitive tactile screen.
Given that most modern screens are of capacitive type – unlike the resistive ones, used in older phones, from the early 2000s – this functionality could quickly become a standard.
Progress in this direction would transform our daily gadgets into true health monitoring tools, helping us to follow and control the body’s essential parameters.
In fact, we already use smart watches to measure pulse, blood oxygen levels and other similar indicators. In the future, such functions will become increasingly sophisticated and will cover an even wider spectrum.
Conclusion
This revolutionary innovation brings us closer to a continuous and intuitive monitoring of health, using the devices we wear daily.
The future is here: not only will we be able to prevent dehydration before the symptoms appear, but we will have a reliable ally in maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It only remains to follow how this technology will transform the way we take care of our body everyday.
