Abstract
Considerable efforts are made to develop Point-of-Care (POC) diagnostic tests. POC devices have the potential to match or surpass conventional systems regarding time, accuracy, and cost, and they are significantly easier to operate by or close to the patient. This strongly depends on the availability of miniaturized measurement equipment able to provide a fast and sensitive response. This paper presents a low-cost, portable, miniaturized USB-powered potentiostat for electrochemical analysis, which has been designed, fabricated, characterized, and tested against three forms of high-cost commercial equipment. The portable platform has a final size of 10.5 × 5.8 × 2.5 cm, a weight of 41 g, and an approximate manufacturing cost of $85 USD. It includes three main components: the power module which generates a stable voltage and a negative supply, the front-end module that comprises a dual-supply potentiostat, and the back-end module, composed of a microcontroller unit and a LabVIEW-based graphic user interface, granting plug-and-play and easy-to-use operation on any computer. The performance of this prototype was evaluated by detecting chronoamperometrically horseradish peroxidase (HRP), the enzymatic label most widely used in electrochemical biosensors. As will be shown, the miniaturized platform detected HRP at concentrations ranging from 0.01 ng·mL−1 to 1 µg·mL−1, with results comparable to those obtained with the three commercial electrochemical systems.
Highlights
Diagnostic tests are performed at central laboratories equipped with automated bench-top analyzers that provide highly reproducible and quantitative diagnostic results
The AmpStat prototype was designed to detect amperometrically the activity of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), an enzyme widely used for the detection of electrochemical biosensors, it could be adapted for other applications
We described in detail the design, production, and preliminary analytical evaluation of this portable high-performance prototype, which is entirely powered and controlled by USB and includes a user-friendly interface that makes it plug-and-play and easy-to-use
Summary
Diagnostic tests are performed at central laboratories equipped with automated bench-top analyzers that provide highly reproducible and quantitative diagnostic results. Patients must often wait for long periods before receiving their test results. This circumstance is most common in developing countries and rural areas, where the lack of access to basic diagnostic equipment and trained personnel is an additional challenge [1]. This issue has resulted in an interest to develop Point-of-Care (POC) testing devices in recent years [2]. POC systems are diagnostic instruments that provide rapid results geographically near the patient, even when handled by untrained personnel. Rigorous requirements are set for POC diagnostic systems following the World
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