Hand-Held Volatilome Analyzer Based on Elastically Deformable Nanofibers

Abstract

This study reports on a hand-held volatilome analyzer for selective determination of clinically relevant biomarkers in exhaled breath. The sensing platform is based on electrospun polymer nanofiber-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) sensing microchannels. Polymer nanofibers of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), polystyrene (PS), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) incorporated with MWCNT exhibits a stable response to interferences of humidity and CO and provides selective deformations upon exposure of exhaled breath target volatilomes acetone and toluene, exhibiting correlation to diabetes and lung cancer, respectively. The sensing microchannels "P1" (PVDF-MWCNT), "P2" (PS-MWCNT), and "P3" (PMMA-MWCNT) are integrated with a microfluidic cartridge (μ-card) that facilitates collection and concentration of exhaled breath. The volatilome analyzer consists of a conductivity monitoring unit, signal conditioning circuitries and a low energy display module. A combinatorial operation algorithm was developed for analyzing normalized resistivity changes of the sensing microchannels upon exposure to breath in the concentration ranges between 35 ppb and 3.0 ppm for acetone and 1 ppb and 10 ppm for toluene. Subsequently, responses of volatilomes from individuals in the different risk groups of diabetes were evaluated for validation of the proposed methodology. We foresee that proposed methodology provides an avenue for rapid detection of volatilomes thereby enabling point of care diagnosis in high-risk group individuals.

Carbon‐Based Nanomaterials and Sensing Tools for Wearable Health Monitoring Devices

“…The fact that they can be produced in these mentioned configurations, making easier to use them for flexible, high-precision, and stable sensors. [74] Apart from these features, carbon black and carbon containing nanofibers can also be used as conductive filling material, and they can be integrated into elastic materials and fabrics. [75] Overall, carbon-based nanomaterials exhibit notable performance in flexible electronics; for instance, high optical transparency of thin films (such as 97.7% optical transparency of graphene [76] ), mechanical flexibility (tensile strength of 100-200 GPa [77] ), and adjustable metallic/semiconductor properties (e.g., the thermal conductivity of CNTs is 6600 W mK −1 , [78] the thermal conductivity and the charge-carrier mobility of graphene 5000 W mK −1 and 250 000 cm 2 Vs −1 , respectively [79] ).…”

Unifying the Efforts of Medicine, Chemistry, and Engineering in Biosensing Technologies to Tackle the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Healthcare systems have been in the midst of a paradigm transition from the centralized care to the point-of-care (POC) and the point-of-need (PON) settings . In the course of this revolution, sensor systems have played one of the crucial roles by not only providing powerful alternatives to current analytical tools, but also paving the way to make them in portable and easy-to-use fashions. , In particular, many sensors are well-aligned with functional and precise nanostructures to address real-world problems in biomedicine . As a classical definition, sensor systems are a kind of translator that first analyzes biological signals or interactions with target and recognition elements and, then, transfers (bio)­chemical signals into an analytical entity, including electrical, mechanical, or optical signals .…”

“…In addition, microfluidics as an integrated technology has significantly improved the outcomes of many biomedical approaches, including optical biosensors for COVID-19 diagnosis through the improvements in molecular interactions between analytes and recognition elements, and also, the reductions in the thickness of the boundary layer ,− For this purpose, a biosensor was developed by combining an all-fiber optical system, a multimode fiber bioprobe, and a microfluidic chip . The detection was carried out through the Fresnel reflection mechanism coupled with an immunoassay strategy.…”

Smart Material‐Integrated Systems for Isolation and Profiling of Rare Cancer Cells and Emboli

“…[32] In this review, a better understanding of cancer metastasis and point-of-care (POC) applications will be elaborated. [33][34][35][36][37] 1.1. Cancer Metastasis Metastasis is the dissemination of the cells from the initial neoplasm to distant organs; the known primary site of metastasis can or cannot affect the prognosis.…”

“…[ 32 ] In this review, a better understanding of cancer metastasis and point‐of‐care (POC) applications will be elaborated. [ 33–37 ]…”