<ul><li>Stress is a significant factor impacting health, with chronic stress linked to various medical conditions.</li><li>Measuring stress levels accurately in real-time has been challenging due to imprecise tools.</li><li>Engineers at Tufts University have developed innovative dental floss that monitors cortisol levels in saliva.</li><li>The dental floss merges microfluidics and molecular imprinting technology for on-demand cortisol detection.</li><li>The device resembles an ordinary floss pick but contains electrodes designed to recognize cortisol molecules.</li><li>The use of electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers allows for selective cortisol detection.</li><li>This technology can be adapted to monitor other biomarkers like estrogen, glucose, and cancer markers.</li><li>The accuracy of the dental floss cortisol sensors matches the best commercial devices available.</li><li>Potential applications include monitoring other health markers and developing multiplexed sensors for comprehensive health profiling.</li><li>A startup is being developed to bring this dental floss sensor to the consumer market for routine stress monitoring.</li></ul>

Innovative Dental Floss Designed to Monitor Stress Levels

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