Development of integrated optical biosensors for biomedical applications
- Doctoral student:
- Jon Mercader Ruíz (Sobresaliente, Poster Prize)
- Year:
- 2019
- Director(s):
- Maite García Hernando, Fernando Benito-Lopez, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts
- Description:
Sweat is a body fluid generated during exercise and a natural source of very rich information about the physiological condition of individuals. In particular, dehydration, which values increase during sport activity, can be monitored by measuring the pH level of sweat, mainly in the range of 4 to 8. Here, we report the design, fabrication and preliminary performance of a microfluidic Point of Care device based on a colorimetric responsive biosensor, composed of ionogels, to measure the pH of sweat. Ionogels, a combination 15 of an ionic liquid and a polymer, have been functionalised with pH indicators to induce a colour change. The sensor section of the device was fabricated by creating ionogel microstructures, in the shape of pillars, as micro-array of sensors in which each pillar change colour based on the pH. The colour variation given by the sensor is analysed and processed to offer a quantitative value of sweat pH.