Development and Evaluation of a Low-Cost Triglyceride Quantification Enzymatic Biosensor Using an Arduino-Based...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Overweight and obesity are linked to increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
• Triglycerides are critical biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases, including strokes.
• Accurate detection of triglycerides in liquid samples is essential for health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a cost-effective enzymatic biosensor for triglyceride and fatty acid detection.
• To utilize an Arduino-based microfluidic platform for enhanced biosensor performance.
• To validate the biosensor's accuracy and reliability in liquid samples.

Main Methods:

• An enzymatic biosensor was created by immobilizing a lipolytic enzyme on an ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer via physical adsorption.
• A spectrophotometric transducer was integrated into an Arduino-based microfluidic platform.
• The biosensor indirectly detected triglycerides and fatty acids using p-nitrophenol as an indicator in liquid samples.

Main Results:

• The average triglyceride level detected was 47.727 mg/dL.
• The biosensor achieved a recovery rate of 81.12% with a variation coefficient of 0.791%.
• The system successfully detected triglyceride levels from 7.6741 mg/dL to 58.835 mg/dL without sample dilution.

Conclusions:

• An efficient and affordable enzymatic biosensor prototype for triglyceride and fatty acid detection was successfully developed.
• Enzyme immobilization on the polymer substrate ensured a stable and reproducible detection system.
• This biosensor presents a promising tool for the accurate detection of triglycerides and fatty acids.