This tiny patch can tell in real time if you’re dehydrated

A patch about the size of a 50-cent coin that can track hydration in real time with no needles and no blood tests has been developed in Queensland that could be a game changer for athletes.

A tiny Aussie-made patch could be the secret weapon propelling our Olympic athletes to gold, while revolutionising a $100bn global health market.
Brisbane start-up WearOptimo has created a wearable sensor that tracks hydration in real time with no needles, no blood tests and no lab delays.

The patch, about the size of a 50-cent coin, has been backed by Formula 1 legend Mark Webber and Aspen Medical, with recent trials at Queensland University of Technology showing it outperforms blood tests.

Professor Mark Kendall, founder and CEO of Wear Optimo at their new advanced manufacturing facility in Brisbane. (Image/Josh Woning)

Elite athletes could be among the first to benefit, with even small drops in hydration potentially making the difference between first and fifth place.

The company, founded in 2018 by Queensland great and biomedical engineering pioneer Professor Mark Kendall, is manufacturing in Brisbane and targeting a global health tech market tipped to hit $100bn.

Unlike conventional “surface-based wearables” such as smart watches that offer limited health data due to the skin’s barrier function, WearOptimo’s sticker-like sensor uses microneedle technology to provide medical-grade precision.

WearOptimo’s sensors.

Professor Kendall said a family emergency sparked the development of the technology.

“One of my close family members had a heart attack and was admitted to hospital,” he said.

“I was stopped by how rudimentary current methods are for measurement, and the level of hours waiting, not sure whether it was a heart attack or not … So that led to the cascade of events.”

WearOptimo’s Microwearable hydration monitor is an AI-enhanced, ‘sticker-like’ skin- patch containing sensors which measure data points that today’s typical wearables – which often rely on light sensors – cannot collect, in a minimally invasive, pain-free format.

The powerful technology platform works using microelectrodes to reach just a hair’s width into the skin, directly detecting key biosignals, which are then translated into real- time actionable wellness and health insights for the user.

The company has a high-calibre advisory board including Dr Bob Langer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former FDA chief counsel Peter Hutt.

Mark Kendall (L) with WearOptimo investor, Australian Formula One champion Mark Webber. Picture: Franck Gazzola

The brand also has sporting personalities as strategic investors including Webber, who joined in 2022, and former Australian rugby player Adam MacDougall, who became part of the company last year.

WearOptimo will be the first to use Nanoimprint Lithography in the southern hemisphere – a cost-effective nanofabrication technique that creates the small, precise structures essential to the company’s microelectrode sensors.

Professor Kendall, who has 27 years’ experience in medical technology, has previously developed commercial technologies including the nano patch for needle-free vaccine delivery and skin-based diagnostics during his time at Oxford University.

He has deliberately ignored the lure of Silicon Valley and instead chosen to base the company in Australia because he wanted to build a success story from his birth country.

“I deliberately set up WearOptimo in Brisbane as opposed to doing it offshore,” he said.

“I’m determined to make a contribution to the ecosystem of Australia, not only because we’re optimal to succeed, but also to teach the next generation of innovators how to do it.”

2025 Queensland Greats Awards Ceremony at Customs House, Brisbane, Thursday, June 5, 2025 - Mark Kendall

With manufacturing, clinical trials and field trials progressing, WearOptimo anticipates formal market sales within two years, with their manufacturing facility producing more than 30 million microwearable sensors annually.

Prof Kendall has been an inventor of more than 160 granted patents, and companies licensing his patents/technologies have generated a combined economic value of $2 billion.

He has served on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Biotechnology and was co-chair of the Australian Stem Cell Therapies Mission. Prof Kendall’s TEDGlobal talk has more than one million views and he is a Rolex Award for Enterprise recipient.

Originally published as This tiny patch can tell in real time if you’re dehydrated