serum에서 paper based sensor로 lithium 측정하기

Lithium carbonate is used for treating bipolar disorder, a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings. But using this drug requires caution because the therapeutic concentration range of lithium ions in blood is narrow and close to the toxic range.

 existing examination methods require a large amount of blood, special operations, and large, expensive devices. 

The researchers succeeded in making a colorimetric paper-based device that allows point-of-care testing in one step. The device consists of two paper-based elements linked to each other: a blood cell separation unit and a colorimetric detection unit. High-purity cotton blotting paper and blood cell separation membrane, which are both available on the market, are used as a substrate for each unit, respectively. Hydrophobic ink was coated on the device to allow easy liquid handling.

After a drop from a blood sample is placed on the end of the separation unit, plasma, or the liquid portion of the blood in the sample, is automatically separated and transported to the detection unit dry-coated with a reagent, which displays a diagnostic color. This process takes about a minute to complete. To measure the color, a digital camera obtains the image for analysis without any fixed light condition, a process that makes the conventional, special device for this task unnecessary.

 

 

reference

Takeshi Komatsu et al. Paper-Based Device for the Facile Colorimetric Determination of Lithium Ions in Human Whole Blood, ACS Sensors (2020). DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.9b02218