Project Reference: TRG27-ENG-SS1

Project title: Smart Wearable Biosensors for Continuous Monitoring of Urinary Tract Infections

Project outline

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most prevalent bacterial infections worldwide and frequently require repeated clinical testing to monitor disease progression and treatment response. Existing diagnostic methods rely on intermittent urinalysis and therefore cannot provide continuous information regarding infection status. This project aims to develop next-generation wearable biosensors capable of continuously monitoring urinary biomarkers for early diagnosis and longitudinal assessment of UTIs.

The research will combine electrochemical biosensors, low-power analog and mixed-signal electronics, wearable device engineering and machine learning to create a compact sensing platform suitable for integration into wearable urinary collection systems. Target biomarkers include leukocyte esterase, nitrite, pH and inflammatory markers relevant to infection diagnosis. Computational algorithms will process multimodal sensor signals to improve diagnostic accuracy while reducing false positives caused by sensor drift or environmental variation.

The project will investigate sensor fabrication, laboratory characterisation, low-power electronic interfaces, signal processing, wireless communication and wearable system integration. Prototype devices will be evaluated using synthetic urine and, where appropriate, validated using clinically relevant samples through collaborations. The long-term objective is to establish a wearable platform capable of continuous, non-invasive monitoring of urinary tract infections, enabling earlier intervention, improved patient management and reduced healthcare burden.

Principal Supervisor

Professor Saransh Sharma

Email address: ss3442@cam.ac.uk

Department / Partner Institute: Engineering

Website: https://elec.eng.cam.ac.uk/team/dr-saransh-sharma/

BBSRC strategic theme

Bioscience for an integrated understanding of health