Smartphone interfaced image based creatinine estimation on a novel micro pipette tip-based platform: Whole blood...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Background:

• Microfluidic platforms are gaining popularity for point-of-care diagnostics due to their low cost and portability.
• Existing methods often require significant laboratory infrastructure and skilled personnel.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel microfluidic pipette-tip based platform for creatinine detection.
• To enable rapid, on-device plasma separation and colorimetric creatinine readout from whole blood using finger-prick samples.

Main Methods:

• A portable pipette-tip microfluidic platform integrating a hybrid solar/AC-operated mini-centrifuge for plasma extraction.
• Non-enzymatic colorimetric detection of creatinine using alkaline 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid.
• Smartphone-interfaced analysis of color intensity via a custom application for quantitative readout.

Main Results:

• Efficient plasma separation from 32 μL of whole blood.
• Colorimetric creatinine detection within 10 minutes.
• Limit of detection (LOD) of 0.16 mg/dL and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.52 mg/dL.
• Excellent agreement with gold standard methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed low-cost microfluidic platform provides accurate, sample-in/answer-out creatinine readout.
• It eliminates the need for conventional laboratory infrastructure, making it suitable for field-settings.
• This device represents a true point-of-care diagnostic tool for creatinine monitoring.