Editorial pubs.acs.org/acssensors
Dispersed Sensor Networks
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biological phenomena with multiple, readily measured variables. Take, for example, the recent report of the use of a wearable device that tracked temperature and heart rate, and detected the early emergence of an infection days before symptoms appeared (Li, X.; Dunn, J.; Salins, D.; Zhou, G.; Zhou, W.; Schüssler-Fiorenza Rose, S. M. et al. Digital Health: Tracking Physiomes and Activity Using Wearable Biosensors Reveals Useful Health-Related Information. PLoS Biol. 2017, 15 (1), e2001402. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2001402). Fusing multiple types of sensory data, and using machine learning to correlate patterns and trends, will help us make existing sensor technologies more powerful. The agricultural industry is monitoring animal health and using analogous strategies to limit the spread of infection. New wearables that sense core temperaturemost temperature sensors assess skin temperaturesappeared in our July issue (DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.7b00247), and a dual sweat pH and skin temperature monitoring sensor appeared earlier this year (DOI: 10.1021/ acssensors.7b00047). Pushing the boundaries of the data that dispersed networks sensewhether they be enabled by human wearables or embedded in the Internet of Thingsis a frontier area for sensor science and application. It is one that ACS Sensors will contribute to propel forward as the journal continues its leadership in this exciting field.
ensors are increasingly ubiquitous. They keep planesand now also carssafe, help us protect our homes, and are increasingly embedded into our daily lives. Rapid progress in sensing is now poised to intersect with another major secular trend: the ever-growing impact of big data and machine learning. Specifically, sensors feed the big data revolution, and big data enriches what correlations can be drawn from dispersed sensors. ACS Sensors will continue to cover the most exciting developments in sensor science, and we also expect to see next-generation system implementation that combines the power of sensors with artificial intelligence. What applications can be realized as sensor science continues to advance? Wearable sensors have been mentioned in recent editorials, and in reviews published in ACS Sensors (DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.6b00250, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.6b00423). This exciting class of devices decentralizes sensing and monitoring. Many people already use wearable sensors as fitness trackers that monitor activity levels. These will progressively become more sophisticated. Blood glucose monitoring, electrolyte analysis, and sun exposure tracking are capabilities that will emerge in consumer wearables in the near term. In the longer term, environmental monitoring, allergen detection, and chemical exposure monitoring are capabilities that would be readily utilized in consumer electronics products. To achieve this we need integrated, miniaturized sensors that provide high-quality data on airborne analytes. Major advances will be required to meet the specifications on the power, weight, and footprint for the next-generation wearable applications. Through the Internet of Things (IoT), we are increasingly collecting data using vehicles, household appliances, and mobile devices such as smartphones. This increases our ability to collect and convey data from widely distributed sensor networks. Applications include enabling more efficient use of energy, and allowing transportation systems to increase their effectiveness, employ better preventative maintenance, and decrease their carbon footprint per passenger mile. An IoT that provides early warning of biological agents will help combat pandemic outbreaks and combat bioterrorism. The development of sensors for biological monitoring in the field has been an opportunity of intense interest for several decades. Significant advances have been made toward automated, portable devices that function robustly outside of the laboratory. However, the footprint of current devices typically remains too large to match the embedded designs of the IoT. We need sensors that are reagentless, regenerable, highly multiplexed, and exceptionally sensitive to monitor biothreats. During a news interview, I was once asked why we are so much better at diagnosing cars in need of repair, versus people in need of treatment for deadly or chronic diseases. It was a hard question to answer, and the answer likely implicates the complexity of human biology and physiology. To take the positive view, today we may finally be able to correlate © 2017 American Chemical Society
Shana Kelley, Associate Editor
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The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Canada
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Shana Kelley: 0000-0003-3360-5359 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Received: September 5, 2017 Published: September 22, 2017 1255
DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.7b00655 ACS Sens. 2017, 2, 1255−1255
