Advancing Noninvasive Therapeutic Drug Monitoring via a 3D Microstructured Aptasensing Platform

Identifier:  imarina:9463943

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9463943

Authors:  Haji-Hashemi, H; Bahadorikhalili, S; Prieto-Simón, B

Abstract:
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) typically involves inconvenient invasive blood sampling. Sweat has been identified as an alternative biofluid that offers a convenient, noninvasive solution for real-time monitoring, supporting the growing demand for personalized healthcare. To advance in noninvasive TDM, we have delivered a novel electrochemical aptamer-based (EAB) sensing platform for sweat analysis. The sensor was built on gold-coated 3D microstructured electrodes (MSEs), fabricated via polymeric replica using macroporous silicon (macro-pSi) molds. This novel platform showed strong potential to address major challenges in sweat sensing such as the accurate and precise detection of the low analyte concentrations present in sweat, enabled by boosting the signal output thanks to the increased surface area of MSEs when compared to planar electrodes, and compliance with comfortable long-term wear, ensured by the use of flexible poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) for MSE fabrication. As a proof of concept, we demonstrated real-time quantification of vancomycin, a narrow therapeutic window antibiotic, in artificial sweat. The MSE EAB sensor achieved up to a 2-fold increase in current and a 3-fold enhancement in signal gain compared to planar electrodes, enabling rapid (