For the past two decades, many microfluidic paper-based analytical devices have been developed and used in different research fields. These devices are low-cost, portable, flexible, sterilizable, easily disposable, and easy to manufacture. The analytical paper-based devices offer good alternatives to measurements and assays commonly performed in laboratories for analytical and clinical purposes, especially in diagnostics. For example, the determination of pH can be essential in applications in areas as diverse as food industry, agriculture, health care or water treatment. There is a benefit in analyzing the pH in bacterial biofilms formed on teeth (or plaque) as it can be indicative of conditions leading to the formation of cavities. Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases world-wide. Cariogenic bacteria thrive in acidic conditions, therefore, assessing the pH of the plaque of a patient can indicate the likelihood of cavities and allow to guide the caregiver for providing preventive care. To address the need for such a pH sensor, we are developing an electrochemical microfluidic paper-based analytical device. We are currently working on an electroanalytical method that involves quantification of pH using stencil-painted graphite electrodes. We have tested solutions with different pH that fall in the cavity-prone range on electrochemical paper-based devices and determined a correlation between the potential of the observed redox peaks and the pH. The next step will involve testing bacterial biofilms cultured on the optimized paper-based devices and assessing interferences that could affect the pH sensing ability of our prototype.

Electrochemical paper-based devices for oral preventative care through pH sensing

256th National Meeting (2018)

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