New Delhi: Researchers have developed a wearable polygraph system designed to sense underlying stress hidden deep within the body.

The lightweight, bandage-like device, described in a paper in the journal Science Advances, gently adheres to the chest, where it simultaneously measures heart activity, breathing patterns, sweat response, blood flow and temperature.

Together, the signals capture a real-time, whole-body view of stress, the researchers, from the US' Northwestern University and Sungkyunkwan University in the Republic of Korea, said.

"Sometimes, the body manifests signs of stress before a person is consciously aware of it. Even if people don't realize how much pressure they are under, stress is quietly affecting their health," lead researcher John A. Rogers, professor of materials science and engineering, biomedical engineering and neurological surgery at Northwestern University, said.

Rogers added that an exposure to prolonged stress can be harmful, especially for pregnant mothers, children and critically ill patients, and ability to measure stress could empower people to take stress-relieving actions with direct benefits to health.

Current approaches to a continuous monitoring of a psychophysiological state involve polygraphy and polysomnography, which the researchers said rely on "cumbersome, wired" sensors that are limited in real-world utility and burden patients, particularly vulnerable populations such as infants.

The device can continuously track multiple physiological signals at once and could help clinicians detect stress and potential discomfort in patients -- including infants or elderlies who may be unable to communicate, they said.

Source: ET Healthworld - May 18,2026