Emerging Wearable Biosensor Technologies for Stress Monitoring and Their Real-World Applications

• Published in: Biosensors (Basel) 2022-11, Vol.12 (12), p.1097
• Main Authors: Wu, Ju-Yu, Ching, Congo Tak-Shing, Wang, Hui-Min David, Liao, Lun-De
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Athletic Performance; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biosensing Techniques; biosensor; Biosensors; Brain research; Chronic illnesses; Cognitive ability; Data processing; Electroencephalography; electroencephalography (EEG) sensor; Electronic devices; electrooculography (EOG) sensor; emotion evaluation; Emotions; Eye movements; Gernsback, Hugo (1884-1967); Health aspects; Health care; Heart rate; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hyperactivity; Identification and classification; Insomnia; Internet; Medical equipment; Medical research; Medical technology; Mental disorders; Mental health; Monitoring, Physiologic - methods; Nervous system; Personal computers; Personal health; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Precision medicine; Psychological stress; Reproducibility of Results; Sensors; Shannon, Claude; Skin; Sleep disorders; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Sweat; sweat sensor; Wearable computers; Wearable Electronic Devices; Wearable technology; wearables
• ISSN: 2079-6374; 2079-6374
• DOI: 10.3390/bios12121097

Wearable devices are being developed faster and applied more widely. Wearables have been used to monitor movement-related physiological indices, including heartbeat, movement, and other exercise metrics, for health purposes. People are also paying more attention to mental health issues, such as stress management. Wearable devices can be used to monitor emotional status and provide preliminary diagnoses and guided training functions. The nervous system responds to stress, which directly affects eye movements and sweat secretion. Therefore, the changes in brain potential, eye potential, and cortisol content in sweat could be used to interpret emotional changes, fatigue levels, and physiological and psychological stress. To better assess users, stress-sensing devices can be integrated with applications to improve cognitive function, attention, sports performance, learning ability, and stress release. These application-related wearables can be used in medical diagnosis and treatment, such as for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), traumatic stress syndrome, and insomnia, thus facilitating precision medicine. However, many factors contribute to data errors and incorrect assessments, including the various wearable devices, sensor types, data reception methods, data processing accuracy and algorithms, application reliability and validity, and actual user actions. Therefore, in the future, medical platforms for wearable devices and applications should be developed, and product implementations should be evaluated clinically to confirm product accuracy and perform reliable research.