hydration status analysis
the importance of hydration
Water keeps us going. Up to 60% of the human adult body is water, depending on age, gender and other factors. Our hydration status is important. Dehydration or overhydration can lead to (serious) health problems and can accompany various medical conditions. It is striking that no quick and simple, non-invasive method exists to reliably measure and monitor someone’s hydration status.
Raman-based hydration status analysis
To change this, RiverD is developing technology for non-invasive hydration status analysis, based on Raman spectroscopy. A proof-of-concept device has been developed. It is currently being used in studies exploring a broad range of use-cases in medicine and sports.
medical conditions
Many medical conditions as well as acute events exist that can lead to overhydration or dehydration. Timely intervention and proper management require reliable hydration status analysis.
healthy aging
In the era of “healthy aging” and ever-increasing health care costs, dehydration leads to many hundreds of thousands of preventable (emergency) hospitalizations of elderly people, each year.
sports
In endurance sports, many physiological parameters are monitored to optimize performance, but direct measurement of hydration is not one of them. Overhydration occurs as often as dehydration, affecting performance and regularly leading to situations requiring medical attention.