Smartphone-based photochemical sensor for multiplex determination of glucose, uric acid, and total cholesterol in fingertip blood

Abstract

A smartphone-based photochemical biosensor capable of realizing multiplex detection of glucose, uric acid (UA), and total cholesterol (TC) is reported here for the first time. The system was composed of a photochemical dongle, a cloud-enabled smartphone, and disposable test strips. The dongle was controlled using a microcontroller unit and was designed to convert the reflected light's intensities into optoelectronic signals for analytes quantification. Only 30 μL of the fingertip blood is needed to complete accurate and reliable measurements within 2 minutes. A cloud-enabled smartphone is connected to the dongle via Bluetooth to serve as a data receiver, and users can obtain the test results for proactive health management or remote diagnosis, while powering the dongle. We believe the proposed biosensor will contribute a lot to the point-of-care-testing and has promising prospects in contributing to the development of the Internet of Medical Things.