A NOVEL dental floss device has been developed that can accurately measure cortisol, a key stress hormone, in real time through saliva, offering a painless and convenient method for stress monitoring.
Chronic stress is linked to numerous health problems, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety. However, current stress monitoring tools are often imprecise, expensive, or reliant on subjective self-reporting. To address this, engineers at Tufts University have created a saliva-sensing dental floss that integrates electropolymerised molecularly imprinted polymers (eMIPs) to detect cortisol with accuracy comparable to existing biosensors. This device is designed for easy home use by untrained individuals, making daily stress tracking simple and non-invasive.
The floss resembles a common floss pick, with a string stretched across two prongs attached to a plastic handle. Saliva is drawn via capillary action through a narrow channel in the floss to electrodes embedded in the handle, where cortisol is detected. The eMIPs act like custom molecular moulds, formed around cortisol molecules and then removed to leave binding sites that specifically recognise cortisol. This technology allows for rapid, selective, and sensitive detection of cortisol levels within 11 to 12 minutes. The device has demonstrated high accuracy and precision, with recovery rates between 98.64% and 102.4% and a strong correlation (r = 0.9910) with conventional ELISA assays. Beyond cortisol, the eMIP technology can be adapted to detect other salivary biomarkers such as glucose, oestrogen, and cancer markers, potentially enabling multi-marker health monitoring. The researchers are developing a startup to bring this product to market, aiming to transform personal health monitoring by integrating stress tracking into daily routines.
While blood tests remain the gold standard for diagnosis, this floss-based sensor offers a practical tool for ongoing monitoring of stress and related health conditions, facilitating timely interventions. This innovation represents a significant advance in wearable biosensors and personalised healthcare, with potential applications across a range of medical conditions. In clinical practice, the availability of a simple, accurate, and non-invasive stress monitoring tool could improve management of stress-related disorders and cardiovascular risk by enabling patients and clinicians to track stress levels regularly and adjust treatments accordingly. Future research should explore the integration of this technology with other health monitoring systems and validate its utility in diverse populations and clinical settings.
Reference
Sharma A et al. Saliva-sensing dental floss: an innovative tool for assessing stress via on-demand salivary cortisol measurement with molecularly imprinted polymer and thread microfluidics integration. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2025;17(17):25083-96.
