EstroPatch · Continuous Estrogen Monitoring Patch

Estrogen monitoring is crucial across genders for tracking conditions like infertility (1 in 6 globally), breast/uterine cancers, postpartum depression, and schizophrenia. Endocrine cancers are rising in the EU (>100,000 neuroendocrine tumor cases, 60% at late stage), with endocrine-disrupting chemicals contributing significantly. Current estrogen monitoring methods are effective but invasive, hospital-based, and dependent on bulky instrumentation, making regular monitoring challenging. Therefore, there is a vital need to develop a highly sensitive, user-friendly wearable biosensing platform for continuous, on-site estrogen monitoring to ensure effective medical decision-making. Electrochemical biosensors offer high sensitivity and rapid response, making them ideal for wearable estrogen monitoring. Microneedle-based systems enable reliable, minimally invasive hormone detection through direct access to dermal interstitial fluid. This proposal aims to develop, for the first time, EstroPatch—a wearable patch for real-time, continuous monitoring of estrone, estradiol, and estriol levels in dermal interstitial fluid by integrating microneedles, electrochemical sensing, microfluidics, and wireless communication. This will address the current lack of microneedle-integrated systems for estrogen detection. In this project, I propose a multiplexed estrogen monitoring system spanning 0.1–5000 pg/mL using electrochemical sensing with optimized detection and quantitation limits. By integrating microneedles, I aim to develop EstroPatch as a pain-free, easy-to-use, and cost-effective solution for applications such as pregnancy monitoring, menstrual cycle tracking, and cancer treatment.