Pediatric Eczema and Scratch Sensors with Steve Xu, MD, MSc

Atopic dermatitis — or eczema — affects about 10 million children in the U.S., and the itching that accompanies this condition can cause pain and distress for kids who can't always verbalize or quantify how much they're suffering. But a new wearable sensor developed by Northwestern University scientists could help better monitor scratching and assess the effectiveness of therapies for eczema and other conditions that cause itch. Steve Xu, MD, MSc, talks about the wearable sensor and the critical role it could play in bringing much-needed relief to patients.

"Just like we measure blood glucose or hemoglobin A1C for patients with diabetes, just like we measure blood pressure for patients with hypertension, I think that measuring scratching for patients that have atopic dermatitis can represent that level of transformation."

— Shuai (Steve) Xu, MD, MSc

Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Dermatology
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering
Medical Director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics
Member of Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute

Episode Notes

Steve Xu, MD, Msc, is a physician-scientist-engineer who spends much of his time at Northwestern in the translation of breakthrough electrical engineering, materials science and health information technology to address major unmet clinical needs. He is the lead author of a recent study published in Science Advances that details how a soft, wearable sensor developed by Northwestern University scientists was used to quantify itch in children with atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema.

With the device, clinicians and parents have the ability to track how well itch is being controlled in patients at home to monitor for treatment response as well as early signs of worsening disease. The sensor was accepted into the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Development Tool program, which allows novel devices like this sensor to be qualified to aid in the approval of new drugs.

In the study, the overall accuracy of the device was 99 percent. "This is a pretty significant result and probably the most accurate, with the most number of patients reported, (using) these kinds of devices," Xu says.