Abstract
The determination of ethanol intoxication in whole blood samples may open the opportunity for a precise and quick point-of-measurement in the ambit of medical emergency or law enforcement. In contrast with traditional techniques based on breath sampling, direct blood measurements present greater immunity to errors specially in case of unconscious or non-collaborative patients. In this context, a portable, sensitive and easy-to-use instrument is highly desirable.In the current work we present a smartphone-based µPotentiostat which combines a novel circuital technique for sensor readout digitalization with a reusable lab-on-a-chip (LoC) concept. Such system allows both chronoamperometric and cyclic voltammetry measurements with a reduced number of electronic components on a very compact PCB (38.5 × 22.5 mm2). Power, data-link and user interface are provided in combination with a standard smartphone, enabling cost-effectiveness and reconfigurability without sacrificing precision. The readout platform discussed in this work has been coupled to a LoC for point-of-care combining Pt electrodes microfabricated on silicon substrate for electrochemical measurement and a microfluidic structure of methacrylate for fluid management. Biosensing is enabled by in situ electrodeposition of a calcium alginate hydrogel containing horseradish peroxidase (HPR) and alcohol oxidase (AOx) for selective ethanol detection. Alginate membrane electrodeposition has been here optimized for rapid generation (2 min) and to retain the cellular fraction, thus allowing the measurement in whole blood samples.The µPotentiostat features a sensitivity of 36 nA/g L−1 to ethanol concentration in blood in the 0–1.25 g;L−1 range, with a limit of quantification (LoQ) of 4.5 nA, which is a suitable response for discerning the legal, illegal, severely illegal thresholds in a 40 µL sample of blood.
Highlights
The degree of ethanol intoxication of a person is assessed in a number of circumstances including traffic police checkpoints, emergency departments or emergency quick responses (Kaisdotter Andersson et al, 2015; Sebbane et al, 2012) and is quantified by blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
Blood alcohol rate determination in whole blood samples is possible with the portable, miniaturized and lightweight smartphone-based LoC presented in the current study
The use of the smartphone, offers a simple graphical interface and opens the possibility to benefit from cloud-based services for data flow under the Internet-of-things scenario
Summary
The degree of ethanol intoxication of a person is assessed in a number of circumstances including traffic police checkpoints, emergency departments or emergency quick responses (Kaisdotter Andersson et al, 2015; Sebbane et al, 2012) and is quantified by blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Hand-held breath analyzers (commonly referred to braethalyzers) are employed either for law enforcement in traffic security or in clinical trials. These devices sample patients’ breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) in a rapid and non-invasive way and rely on an established BrAC/BAC ratio (BBR) to estimate patients’ BAC. Test results can be false positive due to the presence of alcohol in the mouth, but not absorbed in the bloodstream: use of mouth rinses or even endogenous fermentation in human guts are possible causes of that (Lindberg et al, 2015) For these reasons, in many countries BrAC are confirmed with a blood analysis in the hospital before taking a decision
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