Frequently Asked Questions

The IDRO sensor measures the lactate in sweat (in mMol/l). In addition, the temperature in the sampling cell is also measured, which is a good reflection of the temperature of the sweat at the measurement site. The pH and temperature are measured because this gives more insights into the physiological processes inside the body during exercise. There are clear links between lactate in sweat, sweat temperature and sweat pH. With these values, you get your accurate results.

The validity of the IDRO sensor has already been scientifically investigated. The sweat measurements of the IDRO device were compared with the gold standard, ion chromatography and we found a good correlation between both measurements (R² = 0,95) with a difference ranging from 2 to 11%. Please read the scientific article on this topic here. 

The IDRO system comprises an electronic reader, a sampling cell with microfluidic channels and sensing electrodes. The sensing electrodes are placed onto the microfluidic channels and come into contact with the sweat. The chemical reaction of the electrodes with sweat creates an electrical signal that the electronic reader translates into a lactate value. This value is visualized in real-time in the IDRO app on a smartphone. This allows a real-time display of sweat lactate values in the app. You can read more in this blog post and see an animation on the process.

When using a wearable sweat sensor with a ‘flow through’ of sweat, it is possible to do real-time and continuous measurements of lactate in sweat. With the IDRO sensor, we found a relationship between sweat lactate and exercise, with an increase in lactate with increasing exercise intensity. It is possible to detect exercise thresholds with sweat lactate values.  Please read more on how to use sweat lactate in sports on our blog.