Surgical operations are intricate and invasive procedures that require continuous monitoring of the patient's biochemical profile. Point-of-care testing would allow healthcare professionals to identify abnormalities and make the necessary interventions to minimize the risk of complications and ensure patient safety. To this end, we report the development of a disposable and compact fully 3D-printed electrochemical cell incorporated into a medical scalpel (Lab-on-a-Scalpel), aiming to promote on-site (electro)chemical analysis in the operating theater. This multifunctional device minimizes the number of instruments needed during surgery and can be fabricated on-demand by using a desktop-sized 3D printer at a very low cost. The performance of the Lab-on-a-Scalpel sensing device was evaluated over various electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry, amperometry, and differential pulse voltammetry) and different setups (stirring, drop-volume analysis, polarization potentials, etc.) for the determination of epinephrine. Results showed attractive analytical figures-of-merit, with the limit of detection (LOD) reaching 0.13 μM, and high accuracy in recovery studies conducted on artificial blood samples. Our findings suggest that Lab-on-a-Scalpel is a valuable tool that enables near-patient diagnostics with a minimum sample volume and holds promise to become an essential tool for robotic-assisted surgery.

• MeSH
• 3D tisk * MeSH
• adrenalin * analýza   krev   MeSH
• elektrochemické techniky * přístrojové vybavení   MeSH
• laboratoř na čipu * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• adrenalin * MeSH

In this work, we pioneered the preparation of diamond-containing flexible electrodes using 3D printing technology. The herein developed procedure involves a unique integration of boron-doped diamond (BDD) microparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) within a flexible polymer, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Initially, the process for the preparation of homogeneous filaments with optimal printability was addressed, leading to the development of two TPU/CNT/BDD composite electrodes with different CNT:BDD weight ratios (1:1 and 1:2), which were benchmarked against a TPU/CNT electrode. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a uniform distribution of conductive fillers within the composite materials with no signs of clustering or aggregation. Notably, increasing the proportion of BDD particles led to a 10-fold improvement in conductivity, from 0.12 S m-1 for TPU/CNT to 1.2 S m-1 for TPU/CNT/BDD (1:2). Cyclic voltammetry of the inorganic redox markers, [Ru(NH3)6]3+/2+ and [Fe(CN)6]3-/4-, also revealed a reduction in peak-to-peak separation (ΔE p) with a higher BDD content, indicating enhanced electron transfer kinetics. This was further confirmed by the highest apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants (k 0 app) of 1 × 10-3 cm s-1 obtained for both markers for the TPU/CNT/BDD (1:2) electrode. Additionally, the functionality of the flexible TPU/CNT/BDD electrodes was successfully validated by the electrochemical detection of dopamine, a complex organic molecule, at millimolar concentrations by using differential pulse voltammetry. This proof-of-concept may accelerate development of highly desirable diamond-based flexible devices with customizable geometries and dimensions and pave the way for various applications where flexibility is mandated, such as neuroscience, biomedical fields, health, and food monitoring.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH