---
title: "This Stick-On Sensor Can Detect and Track COVID-19 Symptoms"
description: "A team of researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago have developed a skin-colored stick-on sensor that can track COVID-19 symptoms."
date: "2020-05-04"
modified: "2020-05-04"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/sensor-detect-track-covid-symptoms"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Prosthetics and Devices"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "medical wearable"
  - "wearable"
---

# This Stick-On Sensor Can Detect and Track COVID-19 Symptoms

![A team of researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago have developed a skin-colored stick-on sensor that can track COVID-19 symptoms.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/sensor-detect-track-covid-symptoms.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Northwestern University\</em\>*

A team of researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago have developed a skin-colored stick-on sensor that can track symptoms associated with COVID-19, [*CNET* reports](<https://www.cnet.com/news/new-sensor-you-stick-on-your-chest-can-detect-covid-19/>).

The small device, which sticks to the base of the throat, can detect how long and how often you cough, as well as breathing problems.

"We don't use a microphone," John Rogers, director of Northwestern University's Center on Bio-Integrated Electronics, told *CNET*. "There are problems with microphones with ambient noise and tremendous invasions of privacy."

Instead, the team used tech not unlike the chips you'd find inside Fitbits and other fitness trackers.

"We use a high-bandwidth, tri-axis accelerometer to measure movement of the surface of the skin," Rogers added.

The patch syncs data to a smart device such as an iPad, which then uploads it to the cloud.

A different sweat sensor patch, an off-shoot project in partnership with Gatorade that spun out of Rogers' research group at Northwestern, could also help keep track of COVID-19 symptoms including fever, as [*IEEE Spectrum* reported earlier this month](<https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/the-institute/ieee-member-news/sweat-sensing-patch-aimed-athletes-takes-covid19>).

The development of the technology is still in its early stages, with the researchers producing dozens of new patches every week to collect more data.

"I think that demands a hardware platform that is virtually imperceptible," Rogers told *CNET*. "Health care in general will be improved when you move from episodic monitoring of status to continuous. I've always thought that makes sense."

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)