Minimally-invasive devices to track what you eat and your body’s nutrients
Official title: Minimally-invasive technology for personalized nutritional monitoring
Funded at Texas Engineering Experiment Station · NIH-11395489 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Aiming to create wearable and implantable sensors that measure metabolites after meals to help tailor personalized nutrition for conditions like diabetes and obesity, and to support aging health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas Engineering Experiment Station NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (College Station, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $619,756 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK136414-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11395489 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults without restricting health conditions who are willing to participate in meal challenges and sample collection.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals unable to participate in blood or interstitial fluid sampling or meal challenges may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project develops new sensing devices that work with wearables and tiny insertable reporters to monitor nutrients and their metabolites in real time. Researchers will collect blood and interstitial fluid samples from volunteers after consuming meals with varying protein and carbohydrate content, then use machine learning to link meal intake with biomarker changes. The goal is to build models that predict what people actually consumed based on biological signals, enabling more precise nutrition for patients. The work blends engineering, biology, and data science to translate continuous monitoring into practical dietary guidance.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could receive personalized dietary feedback and faster optimization of nutrition plans for chronic diseases and aging.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier work shows that metabolic monitoring can reflect dietary intake, but this project advances real-time, multi-analyte sensing for practical nutrition management.
Where this research is happening
-
Texas Engineering Experiment Station
College Station, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcshane, Mike — Texas Engineering Experiment Station
- Study coordinator: Mcshane, Mike
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.