Smartphone-based colorimetric detection system for portable health tracking
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Colorimetric tests for at-home health monitoring became popular 50 years ago with the advent of the urinalysis test strips, due to their reduced costs, practicality, and ease of operation. However, developing digital systems that can interface these sensors in an efficient manner remains a challenge. Efforts have been put towards the development of portable optical readout systems, such as smartphones. However, their use in daily settings is still limited by their error-prone nature associated to optical noise from the ambient lighting, and their low sensitivity. Here, a smartphone application (Colourine) to readout colorimetric signals was developed on Android OS and tested on commercial urinalysis test strips for pH, proteins, and glucose detection. The novelty of this approach includes two features: a pre-calibration step where the user is asked to take a photo of the commercial reference chart, and a CIE-RGB-to-HSV color space transformation of the acquired data. These two elements allow the background noise given by environmental lighting to be minimized. The sensors were characterized in the ambient light range 100–400 lx, yielding a reliable output. Readouts were taken from urine strips in buffer solutions of pH (5.0–9.0 units), proteins (0–500 mg dL−1) and glucose (0–1000 mg dL−1), yielding a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.13 units (pH), 7.5 mg dL−1 (proteins) and 22 mg dL−1 (glucose), resulting in an average LOD decrease by about 2.8 fold compared to the visual method.
Date Issued
2021-09-08
Date Acceptance
2021-07-23
Citation
Analytical Methods: advancing methods and applications, 2021, 13 (38), pp.4361-4369
ISSN
1759-9660
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
4361
End Page
4369
Journal / Book Title
Analytical Methods: advancing methods and applications
Volume
13
Issue
38
Copyright Statement
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Identifier
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/AY/D1AY01209F
Grant Number
EP/T013567/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Technology
Chemistry, Analytical
Food Science & Technology
Spectroscopy
Chemistry
OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS
CONTACT-LENSES
CORONAVIRUS
SENSORS
Colorimetry
Glucose
Lighting
Limit of Detection
Smartphone
Glucose
Colorimetry
Lighting
Limit of Detection
Smartphone
0301 Analytical Chemistry
0399 Other Chemical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-09-08