A painless skin patch simplifies diagnostic tests

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Many diagnostic tests require blood, but researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a skin patch with tiny needles that painlessly collect interstitial fluid for testing. Diagnostic tests can measure trace amounts of essential proteins or hormones in the blood called biomarkers. High or low levels of biomarkers are specific indicators for a disease.