The chip contains two sensors, each of which uses electrical current to detect vitamins. credit: ACS Applied Nanomaterials (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.3c05701
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The chip contains two sensors, each of which uses electrical current to detect vitamins. credit: ACS Applied Nanomaterials (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.3c05701
Researchers at Brazil’s University of São Paulo (USP) have developed a bioelectronic chip that simultaneously detects vitamin C and vitamin D in body fluids. It is flexible, easy to view, and can be adapted for use on wearable devices to aid in personalized dieting. Details are explained in the article published in. ACS Applied Nanomaterials.
Vitamins C and D are micronutrients that are involved in metabolic pathways involved in fighting viruses and bacteria, and play an important role in the immune system. Monitoring these vitamins in the body helps to ensure that their levels are neither deficient nor excessive.
However, currently available methods for this require expensive laboratory equipment operated by specialized experts. Blood samples must be collected and hazardous waste is generated. It is difficult to simultaneously detect and analyze both vitamins in the same sample.
To simplify the process, researchers affiliated with the San Carlos Institute of Physics used relatively inexpensive resources such as carbon and fast-acting protocols to self-monitor vitamin C and vitamin D. developed an electrochemical chip.
The chip is disposable and contains two sensors that each use an electrical current to detect vitamins. In the case of vitamin C, the sensor is made of carbon nanoparticles, which act as an electrocatalyst. The vitamin D sensor is made by combining graphitic carbon nitride and gold nanoparticles with a layer of 25(OH)D.3 antibody. 25(OH)D3 It is the most abundant circulating form of vitamin D because of its long half-life.
The chip is easy to operate. All the user has to do is connect it to a small portable electronic device similar to a blood glucose meter, insert a sample of saliva or serum, and wait for the electrical current to indicate the presence and level of the vitamin. Results he gets within 20 minutes.
“By immobilizing electrochemically active species on one surface of the sensor, we were able to eliminate the need for labels and redox probes, simplifying the instrumentation and reducing the complexity of the analysis. ” said Thiago Seraphim Martins, lead author of the paper. He is currently a research fellow at Imperial College London, UK.
“This has the potential to make the chip more practical and efficient, allowing it to be used directly in pharmacies, clinics, etc. It could also be used as a wearable device, embedded in a mouth guard or pacifier, etc. It is also flexible enough to be applied directly to the skin. ”
Its selectivity and specificity are designed to measure potential interferences from other substances normally present in blood and saliva samples, such as vitamins B12, B1, B3, glucose, lactate, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride. This was confirmed in a controlled experiment.
The main challenge researchers faced when developing a bioelectronic chip to detect vitamins C and D was to ensure that there were no cross-reactions between the vitamins in the samples analyzed by the chip.
“To address this challenge, we designed the chip to have two working areas, or sensors, with different surface chemistries and configured to operate at different potentials,” Martins explained.
Scientists believe the chip’s capabilities could be expanded to detect other biomarkers, including those for several types of cancer, but further research is needed before the sensor can be validated. There is a need to do. The company then plans to apply for a patent and eventually license the technology to a manufacturer.
For more information:
Thiago S. Martins et al. Label- and redox-probe-free bioelectronic chip for monitoring vitamin C and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 metabolites; ACS Applied Nanomaterials (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.3c05701
