Minimally invasive monitor for personalized nutrition
Official title: Minimally-invasive technology for personalized nutritional monitoring
Funded at Texas Engineering Experiment Station · NIH-11182728 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A small, minimally invasive sensor system will track nutrients and metabolites in the fluid under your skin to provide personalized diet information for people with conditions like diabetes, obesity, or kidney and liver disease.
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 | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $616,856 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK136414-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11182728 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates include adults with diabetes, obesity, kidney or liver disease, older adults at risk for muscle loss, and healthy volunteers for the initial testing phases.
✕Less likely to help
People who cannot tolerate minimally invasive sensors (for example, some children, those with bleeding or clotting disorders, or those unwilling to undergo skin insertions) may not benefit from participation.
What this research studies
You would wear a reader device while a tiny optical sensor is placed just under the skin and researchers collect blood and interstitial fluid samples during planned meals. The team will give fresh meals with different protein and carbohydrate levels and measure resulting metabolites in blood and ISF. Machine learning will be used to link those metabolite patterns and timing differences to the macronutrient content of the meals. The goal is a device that can give on-demand or continuous estimates of what you have eaten from minimally invasive measurements.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could give continuous, objective nutrient and metabolite readings to help tailor diets and better manage conditions like diabetes, obesity, and kidney or liver disease.
How similar studies have gone: Continuous glucose monitors have proven useful for glucose, but continuous multi-nutrient monitoring from interstitial fluid is largely experimental and represents a novel approach.
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.