Wearable Microfluidic Systems for Measuring Sweat Biomarkers in Cystic Fibrosis Patients During Exercise

This is a prospective pilot study designed to assess the feasibility of collecting and measuring sweat rates and sweat chloride during exercise in CF patients. Adult and older pediatric patients will be recruited from the joint Lurie/ Northwestern CF program. They will be asked to perform a sub-maximal exercise test in an exercise laboratory and sweat will be collected using a novel patch system that can allow the calculation of whole-body sweat rates and sweat chloride measurement. This will take approximately 4 hours. In the second part of the study, each subject will be asked to perform 5 exercise sessions at home over a 2-week period, while wearing the sweat patch, taking a picture, and transmitting the images wirelessly. The images from each part of the study will be analyzed in order to assess the feasibility of collecting sufficient sweat in order to make individualized hydration and electrolyte repletion recommendations. They will also be asked to keep diaries of food and medication intake during the study period.