Promising instrument-free detections of various analytes using smartphones with Spotxel® Reader

Abstract

In consideration of the problems related to food safety, environmental pollution, and the spread of infected diseases nowadays, we urgently need testing methods that can be easily performed by common people. Smartphone-based detections are promising for general applications. However, some of these analytical strategies require a combination of accessories and instruments, such as portable electrochemical workstations, mini multi-mode microplate readers, and complex temperature control devices, etc., which are small but still expensive. Herein, we comprehensively introduce a free app (Spotxel ® Reader) that can provide accurate data analysis for microplate or parallel-format test sensors without an instrument. By simulating the optical signal of the test samples through a smartphone, the sensing results can be obtained for free. We discuss the detection strategies involved in the reported smartphone-based analyses using Spotxel ® Reader. Prospects for the development of this free app for future detection applications are presented. This review aims to popularize free analysis software, so that ordinary people may realize convenient tests. Graphical abstract

Smartphone-Based High-Throughput Fluorimetric Assay for Histidine Quantification in Human Urine Using 96-Well Plates

“…The capabilities of modern smartphones in chemical analysis are not only restricted to their built-in hardware that enables sensing, but scientists have also taken advantage of the computational and rapid sharing potentials of the results [23]. The interested reader can "dig in" to numerous research and especially review articles that discuss the numerous analytical applications of smartphones and related devices in areas such as microfluidics [24,25], food safety [26], instrumentation/software [27], biosensors [28], and diagnostics [29][30][31] just to name a few.…”