Addressing the sample volume dependency of the colorimetric glucose measurement on microfluidic paper-based and thread/paper-based analytical devices using a novel low-cost analytical viewpoint

Abstract

The colorimetric method is widely exploited for glucose measurement on microfluidic paper-based and microfluidic thread/paper-based analytical devices, μPADs and μTPADs, respectively. However, two significant challenges still hinder the real-world applications: the variation of the generated color based on sample volume variation, and the consistent dependency on an imaging camera - usually a smartphone camera - for color readout. The latter also suffers from multiple limitations, such as the variable ambient light conditions and imaging variation among different smartphone brands and models. This manuscript suggests a new device demonstrating a novel viewpoint to the colorimetric method to address both aforementioned challenges. The presented device, Volume-Independent Autonomous box (VIA box), continuously monitors the transient color of the µPAD upon the introduction of the sample till color stabilization, in contrast to similar studies where merely the final stabilized color is read. The interpretation of the transient color profile with respect to time results in the measurement of the glucose level independent of sample volume. In addition, the VIA box monitors µPAD’s color using an ordinary RGB sensor instead of an imaging camera in similar studies. Since merely RGB values are recorded in any measurement instance, the computational cost is extremely low compared to the relevant literature where image processing techniques are used. VIA box exploits a simple low-end microcontroller to continuously monitor the transient color, interpret the color profile, and show the glucose level. The samples used in this manuscript are made of artificial sweat samples, including the known glucose range in real sweat samples.