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Blood technology gives Team NZ edge
AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Radical technology that allows blood monitoring without drawing blood is helping Team New Zealand in its bid to retain the America's Cup. The 36 sailors have been monitored using a technology that involves the use of a low-frequency ultrasound pulse to establish a "transdermal flux" from the circulation to the skin surface. The chief scientist of the New Zealand government-owned HortResearch bioengineering technology group, Christian Cook, described the technique as "reading the blood through the skin." No blood is taken, he said at Pacific Rim Biotechnology Conference in Auckland on Tuesday, AFP reported. Team New Zealand had used the technology, called electrosonophoresis or EsoP, to find the optimum levels of a range of factors affecting the performance of individual sailors, fitness trainer David Slyfield told the conference. Sleep, nutrition, amino acid supplements and training routines were monitored. Work was also being done to gain quicker information about each sailor's immune state so they could be told to rest if tests indicated they were about to become unwell. Cook said previous methods of testing blood were obviously invasive, involving sticking a needle into a person. The stress involved reduced the value of the results, Cook said, adding that blood tests needed to be carried out as often as possible for the data to be useful. Readings using the ESoP had been taken from the crew members before they started their 6.30am workouts, in rest periods during the workout, after the gym session, after breakfast and after being out in their boats, Slyfield said. Researchers had discovered that while one athlete might need nine hours' sleep to perform at his best, another could get away with seven or fewer. With the athletes' optimum sleep set, it was then possible to see how diet influenced their training responses. Another area had been in the area of amino acid supplements, Cook said. Few studies had been done to suggest such supplements gave athletes an edge, but using ESoP it had been found specific amino acid needs differed markedly among individuals, as did different amounts, Cook said. The Louis Vuitton Cup, currently in the quarterfinal stage in Auckland, will determine which syndicate will challenge Team New Zealand in February. Team New Zealand retained the America's Cup in 2000.
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