Point of Care Diagnostics Based on Organic and Printed Electronics
Tony Killard,
Professor,
University West of England Bristol
Point of care diagnostics was completely revolutionised through the mass production of printed sensor strips in combination with electrochemical transduction. Glucose biosensors could be considered ahead of their time in the field of organic and printed electronics. With the development of a broad array of new functional materials with characteristics such as organic, nanostructured solution processability, in combination with printing and low cost 2D and 3D system integration approaches, the field is now developing rapidly, allowing the fabrication of novel, integrated systems for new diagnostic applications. Our research group has been developing a number of point-of-care diagnostic devices based on the application and integration of electrochemical sensors in organic and printed electronics. Impedimetric sensors based on inkjet-printed polyaniline nanoparticle-modified electrodes have been used as the basis of a breath diagnostic device for measuring breath ammonia. The sensors were capable of measuring ammonia down to several parts per billion in human breath and were studied in haemodialysis patients.2 This technology is being commercialised and being used to address a number of healthcare challenges. This concept has also been extended to the measurement of ammonia in blood, which has remained a challenging analyte in point of care diagnostics. Other print-processable materials are now also being developed to measure other trace breath gases such as acetone for monitoring diabetes.
Fully integrated sensor systems for cholesterol6-9 are also being developed by combining organic and printed electronic components such as biosensors, batteries10, displays and organic circuits to create fully integrated, instrumentless devices. The ‘SIMS’ device is being developed which aims to transform the simplicity with which blood cholesterol levels can be measured, with the aim of improving the management of hypercholesterolaemia.
|
|
