Wearable sensor can measure scratching in eczema sufferers

Atopic dermatitis, or eczema, is a common skin condition affecting around one in five children. It can cause sufferers to itch so badly that they stay awake at night scratching causing them to lose, on average, a full night’s sleep per week.

Itching, however, is a difficult symptom to measure, making it tricky to track how effective any drugs and treatments being administered are.

Now, researchers at Northwestern University have developed a soft skin patch capable of measuring how often its wearer scratches themselves.