The future of personalized diagnostics and treatment
of cardiovascular
diseases lies in the use of portable sensors. Portable sensors can
acquire biomarker information in biological fluids such as sweat,
an approach that mitigates the shortcomings of conventional hospital-centered
healthcare. Low sensitivity, selectivity, and specificity remain bottlenecks
for the widespread use of portable sensors. Herein, we demonstrate
a portable sensor that simultaneously detects Na+, ascorbic
acid, and human neuropeptide Y in sweat, all useful biomarkers to
index cardiovascular health. The portable sensor comprises a six-electrode
system containing three working electrodes, two reference electrodes,
and one counter electrode. The working electrodes were prepared by
depositing sensing components on carbon quantum dot (CQD) electrodes.
The sensing mechanisms were based on selective ion recognition, enzyme
catalytic reaction, and immune response, which guarantees specificity
to corresponding targets. The CQDs offer massive reactive sites and
effectively reduce the interfacial impedance during the sensing reaction,
thereby enhancing the three biomarkers’ detection sensitivity.
As evidence of portable sensor capability, we demonstrate herein its
effective simultaneous detection of the three biomarkers in a real
sweat from healthy volunteers during routine activities including
exercise, extra ascorbic acid ingestion, and extra Na+ ingestion.
As such, the sensor shows promise for real-time noninvasive personalized
medical diagnostics and metabolic wellness management.