New Sweat Sensor can Help Detect Cytokine Levels in COVID-19 Patients Written by AZoSensorsApr 19 2021 During the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors had found that patients who experienced a surge of pro-inflammatory immune proteins, called 'cytokine storm,' were usually the sickest and faced the highest risk of death. A wristwatch-like device measures cytokine levels in passive sweat. Image Credit: Kai-Chun Lin. However, a cytokine storm can also take place in other illnesses, like influenza. At present, researchers have reported initial results on a sweat sensor that serves as an early warning system for an imminent cytokine storm, which could allow doctors to treat patients more effectively.