Most wearables promise the usual things: heart rate, sleep tracking, maybe a stress score you did not ask for. This one is after something far more unsettling. Researchers at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Computer Science are working on a smartwatch-like device that could help detect micro- and nanoplastic particles in the human body.
The work was published in the Proceedings of the 27th International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications.
The concept is striking as it takes a form factor people often associate with wellness and turns it into a tool for measuring one of the more disturbing byproducts of modern life.
How does it work?
Detecting plastic particles inside the body is difficult. It often relies on blood samples, specialized equipment and invasive methods. The researchers say that is exactly what they are trying to avoid. By exploring a light-based sensing approach, they could eventually make monitoring more accessible and far less unpleasant.
The researchers used spectrometry, a technique that analyzes how light interacts with materials. Different plastics absorb and reflect light in unique ways, which leaves behind optical signatures that sensors can identify. The team say the same concept has already been used to detect plastics in places like soil and water, and they are now trying to bring it into wearable health tech.
The prototype is already detecting plastic beneath artificial skin
The device itself uses a miniature spectrometer that shines different colors of light and measures what bounces back. This includes visible, near-infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. According to the researchers, this setup has already managed to detect plastic particles beneath the surface of artificial skin that was used for testing.
All of this sounds great on paper, but a consumer product is not around the corner. The team was clear that there is still “a long way to go” before the concept becomes real-world wearable hardware. But they say the early results already show the potential for non-invasive monitoring of microplastics inside the body.
With micro- and nanoplastics already being found in the bloodstream and in many internal organs, yet their long-term-term effects on human health are still not fully understood. But studies have linked them to inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic disorders, particularly in the digestive and respiratory systems. So that’s why this device feels important, as it is trying to quantify how much of the plastic world around us may already be inside us.
