Exhaled breath contains a large amount
of biochemical and physiological
information concerning one’s health and provides an alternative
route to noninvasive medical diagnosis of diseases. In the case of
lung diseases, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an
important biomarker associated with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, and lung cancer and can be detected in exhaled breath. The
current method of breath analysis involves condensation of exhaled
breath, is not continuous or real time, and requires two separate
and bulky devices, complicating the periodic or long-term monitoring
of a patient. We report the first disposable paper-based electrochemical
wearable sensor that can monitor exhaled H2O2 in artificial breath calibration-free and continuously, in real
time, and can be integrated into a commercial respiratory mask for
on-site testing of exhaled breath. To improve precision for sensing
H2O2, we perform differential electrochemical
measurement by amperometry in which screen-printed Prussian Blue-mediated
and nonmediated carbon electrodes are used for differential analysis.
We were able to measure H2O2 in simulated breath
in a concentration-dependent manner in real time, confirming its functionality.
This proposed system is versatile, and by modifying the chemistry
of the sensing electrodes, our method of differential sensing can
be extended to continuous monitoring of other analytes in exhaled
breath.
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