Engineers develop stress test to measure cortisol

Yahoo! Finance and other news outlets highlighted devices developed by engineers at the University of Cincinnati to test cortisol and cardiac issues.

UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Distinguished Research Professor Chong Ahn and his students developed a “lab-on-a-chip” device that measures the stress hormone cortisol from a patient’s saliva. Knowing if a patient has elevated stress hormones can provide useful diagnostic information even if patients do not report feelings of anxiety, stress or depression in a standard mental health questionnaire.

Mental health disorders affect more than 400 million people around the world. Stress disorders such as anxiety and depression are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Prolonged cortisol elevation is linked to numerous mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety.

UC researchers created a lab-on-a-chip system to track a patient’s cortiso levels. It consists of a disposable collection device that a person puts in their mouth which is then inserted into a reader. The reader can transmit results in minutes to a portable analyzer and phone.

The study was published in the journal Biomedical Microdevices.

Featured image at top: UC doctoral student Heeyong Jang holds up a microfluidic device developed in Chong Ahn's lab. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand

Read the Yahoo! Finance story.