Source: NYU Tandon School of Engineering; research by Elisa Riedo, Mahla Poudineh, Anna Nolan et al. (NYU Tandon School of Engineering) (October 21, 2026). AI-generated summary by biochip.com, published . Not independently reviewed.
Key takeaways
- NYU Tandon is leading a 14-partner project, funded for up to $31 million, to develop the SENTINEL inflammation-tracking patch.
- The planned device pairs hyaluronic acid microneedles with a sensor chip designed to measure 15 inflammation markers at once.
- The patch is still in development, and its first human trial is planned for the end of the four-and-a-half-year project.
NYU Tandon School of Engineering is leading a 14-partner project to build SENTINEL, a wearable patch designed to track inflammation continuously. The device will combine a sensing microchip with tiny needles that collect fluid just beneath the skin, aiming to spot warning signs of sepsis and other conditions earlier than occasional blood tests can. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has awarded the team up to $31 million for the work. The patch is still in development, with its first human trial planned for the end of the four-and-a-half-year project.
How the Patch Is Designed to Work
SENTINEL will be smaller than a fingernail. Its microneedles will be made from hyaluronic acid, a substance found naturally in skin, and will draw in fluid from just below the skin’s surface. That fluid contains biomarkers, measurable biological signals that can indicate inflammation.
Think of each transistor on the sensor chip as a tiny switch with a custom sensor attached. A molecule coating each transistor is designed to bind to one particular inflammation marker; when that happens, the transistor’s electrical signal changes. Companion chips will manage power and send encrypted readings to a phone.
The project aims to measure 15 markers at once. That requires coating neighboring transistors with different molecules without mixing up which marker each one detects. Elisa Riedo’s group at NYU Tandon has developed a heat-based patterning method and custom polymers for this task. The team will now test the approach in a wearable device.
From Development to Testing
Riedo leads the project, while Mahla Poudineh, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU Tandon, leads work on the hydrogel microneedle sensing platform. Anna Nolan, a pulmonary and critical care physician at NYU Langone Health, will oversee preclinical and clinical testing. Jeffrey Hubbell, director of NYU’s Institute for Engineering Health, will assess the patch’s safety in the body.
The first human trial is planned for NYU Langone Health at the project’s end. One proposed use is monitoring a patient after surgery for early signs of sepsis; another is tracking inflammation in a person with lupus, where signals may shift weeks before a flare damages organs. These are intended applications, not demonstrated outcomes from the patch.
Why This Matters
Doctors usually check inflammation with blood tests taken at intervals. Continuous readings could provide a different kind of warning, particularly for sepsis, a severe response to infection in which delays in treatment can matter. The project team also points to possible monitoring of chronic inflammation associated with conditions including autoimmune disorders and inflammatory bowel disease.
NYU spinout Glaucus will integrate the sensor chips into the patch and lead commercialization. The team says standard chipmaking methods could allow production for under $100 per patch, but that is a projected cost, not a reported retail price. ARPA-H will pay the award in stages as the team meets research milestones. The upcoming work will test whether the sensing methods can perform in a wearable device and whether the planned system is safe enough to advance to human testing.
Topics: Immunity & inflammation · Infectious diseases
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