Cyclic swelling enabled, electrically conductive 3D porous structures for microfluidic urinalysis devices.

Area of Science:

• Bioelectronics
• Microfluidics
• Nanomaterials Science

Background:

• Urinalysis is crucial for health monitoring but quantitative analysis is lab-bound.
• Existing methods lack speed and point-of-care accessibility for comprehensive urinalysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fast, reusable, electrical sensing microfluidic device for quantitative urinalysis.
• To enable point-of-care diagnosis through accessible body fluid analysis.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microfluidic device using soft porous scaffolds decorated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes.
• Utilizing electrical signal detection for biomarker quantification.
• Demonstrating reusability via sunlight exposure and mechanical programming of scaffolds.

Main Results:

• The device successfully detected and quantified red blood cells, Escherichia coli, and albumin.
• Ex vivo experiments in mouse models showed comparable diagnostic accuracy to existing biochemical tests.
• The device demonstrated sensitivity, reusability, and mechanical programmability.

Conclusions:

• The developed bioelectronic device offers a low-cost, rapid, and robust platform for urinalysis.
• This technology has broad applications for point-of-care disease diagnosis using body fluids.
• Integration of nanomaterials into soft scaffolds enables mechanically programmable microfluidic bioelectronic devices.