A Self-Powered Minimalistic Glucometer: A Lean Approach to Sustainable Single-Use Point-of-Care Devices

In this work, a novel glucose quantification strategy is presented in a self-powered biosensing device. The analyte in the sample is oxidized in an enzymatic fuel cell and the generated charge is transferred to a capacitor. The built-up capacitor voltage at a specific time can be directly correlated with the concentration of analyte. An electro-fluidic switch placed on a paper-based microfluidic channel connects a minimalistic electronic circuit to the fuel cell. The circuit modules discriminate the built-up capacitor voltage, which corresponds to a particular glucose range. The digital semi-quantitative result is visualized via electrochromic displays. As a practical application of this working principle, the self-powered single-use device has been designed to perform screening of gestational diabetes mellitus. The device discriminates between healthy (<7.8 mm), pre-diabetes (>7.8 mm), and diabetes (>11.1 mm) condition providing a reliable result. This single use, printable, and disposable self-powered glucose biosensing device is autonomous and fully powered by the glucose contained in a 3.5 mu L sample. It offers an energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and low-cost solution for Point-of-Care testing. By replacing the selective enzyme in the fuel cell, this strategy can be used for measuring other health parameters such as creatinine, cholesterol, or uric acid, among others.

Automated summary

This work introduces a novel glucose quantification strategy in a self-powered biosensing device, featuring oxidation of the analyte in a fuel cell, discrimination of the built-up capacitor voltage, and visualization of semi-quantitative results for screening gestational diabetes mellitus. The single-use and disposable device is autonomous, fully powered by glucose in the sample, and offers an energy-saving, environmentally friendly, and low-cost solution for Point-of-Care testing. Additionally, this strategy can be applied for measuring other health parameters by replacing the selective enzyme in the fuel cell.