Published in 2016, this collaborative research was conducted by the Stretchable Device Laboratory at Simon Fraser University in partnership with NTS Research & Inc. (Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada). Supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the project focused on developing a flexible wearable biosensor capable of continuously monitoring lactate levels through human sweat.

Lactate is an important metabolic biomarker generated during cellular energy metabolism. Under normal physiological conditions, lactate production increases during intense physical activity as glycolysis accelerates to meet energy demands. Altered lactate metabolism is also widely recognized in cancer biology, where many tumor cells preferentially convert glucose into lactate through enhanced glycolysis, a phenomenon commonly known as the Warburg Effect.

To enable continuous metabolic monitoring without repeated blood sampling, the researchers developed a flexible electrochemical biosensor incorporating silver nanoparticle electrodes, lactate oxidase, and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The wearable platform was designed to non-invasively measure lactate in sweat while wirelessly transmitting real-time measurement data.