The development of wearable medical devices is a fundamental and essential in order to promote ambulatory medicine. Exhaled gases as transcutaneous gases (gases that diffuse through the skin) are known to carry molecules ('biomarkers') representative of pathologies or degradation of the physiological state, the ambulatory monitoring of which would be a real diagnostic and monitoring tool. However, the personal equipment associated to the continuous monitoring of exhaled gases is inappropriate for intensive sports activities, unlike the transcutaneous gases monitoring which could be carried out without losing mobility and discreetly (social impact), for example with a device placed on the forearm. Apart from oxygen and carbon dioxide, most of the biomarkers present are in very low concentrations and are therefore difficult to detect. One way of getting around this low concentration is to carry out a pre-concentration step, i.e. to accumulate over time, and therefore to concentrate enough molecules so that they are more easily detectable and measurable.
The objective of this thesis is therefore to develop and optimise a transcutaneous gas collector and pre-concentrator. The work will consist in particular in modelling the gas exchanges between the skin and the device in order to optimize the efficiency of the pre-concentration. The model will be compared with experimental results on a gas test bench for validation with two biomarkers of interest.
This subject requires a highly motivated person with skills in modelling and instrumentation. Skills in mechanical design of medical devices would be a plus.