A hot topic and emerging technology in the scientific community is the development of biosensors for organ-on-chip (OOC) devices. As research on OOCs continues expanding, so does the pressing need to integrate novel sensing approaches beyond spectroscopic, enzymatic, and voltametric platforms. There is a concurrent and growing need for scholarly content that supports advances in disease model development, drug screening, toxicology, pathogenesis studies, efficacy testing, and virology. Help The Electrochemical Society disseminate content in this area by making us your home for publishing gold open-access content on biosensors for OOCs. Reviews, perspectives, methods, and research articles on this topic are welcome. Submit today!

Arda Gozen, assistant professor, WSU School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. Photo Credit: WSU

Living with any disease isn’t easy. In particular, when it comes to living with diabetes, it involves an imposed routine of finger pricking and monitoring of glucose levels in order to simply maintain a healthy lifestyle. So you can imagine, any technology that can ease the sting is welcomed. Researchers at Washington State University have developed a 3D‑printed glucose biosensor for use in wearable monitors that may forever change how millions monitor their glucose levels.

According to Futurism, the research team—led by Arda Gozen and Yuehe Lin—have developed 3D-printed sensors that could stick to a person’s skin and monitor glucose via bodily fluids, like sweat. The 3D-printed glucose monitor offers much better stability and sensitivity than those manufactured through traditional methods, according to Washington State University. In addition, compared to traditional manufacturing processes, these 3D-printed sensors also cut down costs and reduce waste like expensive cleanroom processing and harmful chemicals. (more…)

Dogs are special. There’s no doubt about that.

In fact, they’re so unique that scientists are looking to use what we’ve learned from our furry companions to create new biosensor technology. See, dog’s noses aren’t only good for sniffing other dog’s tails at the park; they offer information. (more…)

Credit: American Chemical Society

Pesticides, extremely effective at killing pests, can also unfortunately pass on the same harmful effects to the people who use them—most commonly farmers. To combat the problem, researchers have developed a way to detect the presence of such compounds in the field using a disposable “lab-on-a-glove,” according to Phys.

Because different types of pesticides consist of different levels of toxicity, the protective glove is of particular importance, as it can be used to determine which compounds are present more accurately and quickly.

The new wearable, flexible glove biosensor carries out the sampling and electrochemical biosensing steps on different fingers. Detection of the collected residues is performed when the thumb touches the printed enzyme-based organophosphate biosensor on the glove index finger. (more…)

Photo Credit: Fossbytes

The newest Apple Watch has arrived. Updated, new, and shiny, the Series 4 watch offers a state-of-the-art heart monitor feature that can alert users of potential heart problems, according to IEEE Spectrum. The app, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, works like an electrocardiogram, allowing wearers to proactively manage their health. Electrodes on the back of the watch and on the watch band allow wearers to detect irregular heart rhythms that can warn consumers of any possible atrial fibrillation’s that could possibly lead to blood clots or strokes; heart disease being one of the top killers in the western world. The Series 4 Apple Watch is truly unique; the first certified ECG monitor to be sold over the counter, directly to consumers. (more…)

A new biosensor technology, commonly referred to as a “lab on a chip,” could monitor your health and alert you of exposure to bacteria, viruses, and pollutants.

“This is really important in the context of personalized medicine or personalized health monitoring,” says Mehdi Javanmard, co-author of the recently published work on the development. “Our technology enables true labs on chips. We’re talking about platforms the size of a USB flash drive or something that can be integrated onto an Apple Watch, for example, or a Fitbit.”

This from Rutgers University:

The technology, which involves electronically barcoding microparticles, giving them a bar code that identifies them, could be used to test for health and disease indicators, bacteria and viruses, along with air and other contaminants, says Javanmard, senior author of the study.

In recent decades, research on biomarkers—indicators of health and disease such as proteins or DNA molecules—has revealed the complex nature of the molecular mechanisms behind human disease. That has heightened the importance of testing bodily fluids for numerous biomarkers simultaneously, the study says.

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Global estimates report that nearly 600 million people are sickened by a foodborne illness annually, resulting in over 400,000 deaths. In the United States alone, foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella and E. coli result in an overall cost of $77 billion per year.

Researchers from the Washington State University (WSU) are looking to help put an end to the spread of foodborne illnesses with the development of a new and improved biosensor.

We’ve see in in the recent food recalls; harmful pathogens in food are almost always discovered after people have become sick. The work from WSU, led by ECS member Yuehe Lin, focuses on detecting and amplifying the signal of food pathogens, reducing the risk of small (but dangerous) pathogens to go undetected.

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A nationwide outbreak of Salmonella-tainted cucumbers has afflicted states with increased illnesses and hospitalizations. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined the source and cause of the outbreak, the damage has been done, and the case count is expected to rise in spite of the recent recall. Many are now asking the question: how can we better control food safety?

Shin Horikawa and his team at Auburn University believe their novel biosensor technology could resolve many of the current issues surrounding the spread of foodborne illnesses. As the principal scientist for a concept hand-picked for the FDA’s Food Safety Challenge, Horikawa is looking to make pathogen detection faster, more specific, and cheaper.

Faster, Cheaper, Smarter

“The current technology to detect Salmonella takes a really long time, from a few days to weeks. Our first priority is to shorten this detection time. That’s why we came up with a biosensor-based detection method,” says Horikawa, Postdoctoral researcher at Auburn University and member of ECS.

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