The technology was developed by Xie Xi and Chen Huijun of Sun Yat sen University in China.
It's a flexible device, about 25 cents in size, and it contains five different electrode arrays connected to a circuit board equipped with a Bluetooth module and a lithium-ion battery. These electrodes can detect potassium ion, sodium ion, hydrogen peroxide, uric acid and glucose, all of which are biomarkers related to various conditions.
When urine samples obtained from three volunteers were tested, it was found that the performance of the sensor was the same as that of traditional commercial analysis systems. As an alternative, paper test paper is not so sensitive.
When it is integrated into adult diapers and urine is added, the array continues to function well. Scientists believe that in the real world - diapers start dry and then gradually become saturated - the sensor will have to take multiple readings to collect accurate data.
In other words, just take a Bluetooth connected smart or tablet computer beside the patient's bed and you can get the data immediately. There is no need to collect urine or conduct laboratory analysis.
A paper on this study was recently published in ACS applied nanomaterials 》In the magazine.