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Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) plays an important role in anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. The delta-alpha PAC signature during anesthetic-induced unconsciousness is gradually becoming known; however, the frequency dependence and spatial characteristics of PAC are still unclear. Multi-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was performed during the loss and recovery phases of consciousness in patients undergoing general anesthesia using sevoflurane. First, a spectral analysis was used to investigate the power change of the different frequency bands in the EEG signals. Second, PAC comodulogram analysis was performed to confirm the frequencies of the PAC phase drivers. Finally, to investigate the spatial characteristics of PAC, a novel PAC network was constructed using within- and cross-lead PAC, and a K-means clustering algorithm was used to identify PAC network patterns. Our results show that, in addition to the delta-alpha PAC, unconsciousness induced by sevoflurane was accompanied by spatial non-uniform alpha-gamma PAC in the cortical network, and dynamic PAC patterns between the anterior and posterior brain were observed during the unconscious phase. The dynamic transition of PAC network patterns indicates that brain states under sevoflurane-induced unconsciousness emerge from the regulation of functional integration and segregation instantiated by delta-alpha and alpha-gamma PAC.

Oral processing is a combination of various actions, the detailed description of which has always been the subject of relevant research. By means of imaging technology and sensory evaluation, more knowledge of oral processing have been accumulated. Presently, the advances in sensory technology have added quantitative parameters to the qualitative description of oral processing, which also enriched the specifics of each action. Previous studies have shown that oral processing includes lip closure, dental occlusion, masticatory muscles activity, tongue movement, and swallowing, whose processing contains rich information such as the movement of organ and the intensity of organ contacts. "Quantification" was taken in this review as the basic feature of in situ detection information, the relevant parameters and feasible methods for the quantitative description of each activity was recorded in detail. In addition, basic problems and feasible optimization schemes of the existing in situ detection device are also proposed in the hope of promoting the development of in situ detection device thus providing available information for the description of oral processing.

The world at large is facing a new threat with the emergence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Though imperceptible by the naked eye, the medical, sociological and economical implications caused by this newly discovered virus have been and will continue to be a great impediment to our lives. This health threat has already caused over two million deaths worldwide in the span of a year and its mortality rate is projected to continue rising. In this review, the potential of algae in combating the spread of COVID-19 is investigated since algal compounds have been tested against viruses and algal anti-inflammatory compounds have the potential to treat the severe symptoms of COVID-19. The possible utilization of algae in producing value-added products such as serological test kits, vaccines, and supplements that would either mitigate or hinder the continued health risks caused by the virus is prominent. Many of the characteristics in algae can provide insights on the development of microalgae to fight against SARS-CoV-2 or other viruses and contribute in manufacturing various green and high-value products., Graphical Abstract

Microbial biosensor which integrates different types of microorganisms, such as bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and virus have become suitable technologies to address limitations of conventional analytical methods. The main applications of biosensors include the detection of environmental pollutants, pathogenic bacteria and compounds related to illness, and food quality. Each type of microorganisms possesses advantages and disadvantages with different mechanisms to detect the analytes of interest. Furthermore, there is an increasing trend in genetic modifications for the development of microbial biosensors due to potential for high-throughput analysis and portability. Many review articles have discussed the applications of microbial biosensor, but many of them focusing only about bacterial-based biosensor although other microbes also possess many advantages. Additionally, reviews on the applications of all microbes as biosensor especially viral and microbial fuel cell biosensors are also still limited. Therefore, this review summarizes all the current applications of bacterial-, microalgal-, fungal-, viral-based biosensor in regard to environmental, food, and medical-related applications. The underlying mechanism of each microbes to detect the analytes are also discussed. Additionally, microbial fuel cell biosensors which have great potential in the future are also discussed. Although many advantageous microbial-based biosensors have been discovered, other areas such as forensic detection, early detection of bacteria or virus species that can lead to pandemics, and others still need further investigation. With that said, microbial-based biosensors have promising potential for vast applications where the biosensing performance of various microorganisms are presented in this review along with future perspectives to resolve problems related on microbial biosensors.

Vast improvements in nanotechnology have led to the wide usage of nanomaterials (NMs) in daily products. This study reviews the interactions between NMs and microalgae in terms of impacts on growth and photosynthetic efficiency, and their toxicity on microalgae. All types of NMs such as carbon-based NMs (CNMs), metal oxide-based NMs (MONMs) and noble metal-based NMs (NMNMs) improve microalgal growth and photosynthetic efficiency at low concentration, typically ranging between 1 and 15 mg/L depending on the type of NMs, due to hormetic responses by microalgae. Higher concentrations of NMs have been found to reduce photosynthetic efficiency and subsequent growth inhibition of microalgae. MONMs-microalgae and NMNMs-microalgae interactions focus on membrane alteration, whereas carbon-based NMs-microalgae focus more on shading effect. The toxicity of each type of NMs on microalgae is in the order rGO GO MG CNT for carbon-based NMs, ZnO TiO

In recent years, researchers have begun to develop smartphone-based electrochemical system to support healthcare services. These systems are always combined with screen-printed electrodes to perform early diagnosis, chronic disease monitoring, and health management. However, there are still some challenges that will affect the practical application of the systems with the electrodes, such as system sensitivity, sensor performance, and sensor stability. In this paper, a smartphone-based square wave voltammetry system with screen-printed graphene electrodes was developed to solve the aforementioned challenges. The system composed of sensors, coin-sized detector, and smartphone. Graphene ink was printed on soft substrate to construct flexible screen-printed graphene electrode. The electrodes were used as disposable sensors, exhibited high electron transfer rate and low contact resistance. Meanwhile, the rate of current change of the electrodes remained nearly unchanged for one month. The detector was used to generate electrochemical excitation signals, monitor the resultant currents on the sensors, convert the current into digital code, and send them to smartphone. The smartphone acted as the core of the system for system control, data processing, and results display. Then, the system with the electrodes was used for norepinephrine detection. The limit of detection for norepinephrine was as low as 0.265 ​μM with 3δ/slope calculation for the dose-dependent fitting curve. It has also been verified to be able to distinguish norepinephrine from other representative interfering substances in the body. Hence, the system with flexible screen-printed graphene electrodes showed great potential in the field of point-of-care testing and wearable detection.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Ultrasound improves the delivery of nanomaterials to delivery sites. • Ultrasound possesses advantages over conventional delivery systems. • Ultrasound displays promising potential in drug delivery for different diseases. • Acoustic cavitation induced by ultrasound significantly enhances drug efficacy. • Future development of US-assisted drug delivery is prospected., Recent advances in ultrasound (US) have shown its great potential in biomedical applications as diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The coupling of ultrasound-assisted drug delivery systems with nanobiomaterials possessing tailor-made functions has been shown to remove the limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. The low-frequency ultrasound has significantly enhanced the targeted drug delivery effect and efficacy, reducing limitations posed by conventional treatments such as a limited therapeutic window. The acoustic cavitation effect induced by the ultrasound-mediated microbubbles (MBs) has been reported to replace drugs in certain acute diseases like ischemic stroke. This review briefly discusses the ultrasound principles, with particular attention to the recent advancements in drug delivery applications. Furthermore, ultrasound-assisted drug delivery coupled with nanobiomaterials to treat different diseases (cancer, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, thrombosis and COVID-19) is discussed. Finally, this review covers the future perspectives and challenges on the applications of ultrasound-mediated nanobiomaterials.

With the advantages of high popularity, convenient operation, open-source operation systems, high resolution imaging, and excellent computing capabilities, smartphones have been widely used as the core of detection system for calculation, control, and real-time display. Hence, smartphones play an important role in electrochemical detection and optical detection. Smartphone-based electrochemical systems were combined with screen-printed electrode and interdigital electrodes for in situ detection. The electrodes were modified with biomaterials, chemical materials, and nanomaterials for biosensors and biodetection, such as 3-amino phenylboronic acid nanocomposites, graphene, gold nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, proteins, peptides, and antibodies. With the modified electrodes, the smartphone-based impedance system was used to detect acetone, bovine serum albumin, human serum albumin, and trinitrotoluene, while smartphone-based amperometric system was employed to monitor glucose, ascorbic acid, dopamine, uric acid, and levodopa. The smartphone-based electrochemical system for biosensors and biodetection has provided miniaturized and portable alternative for diagnosis, which is promising to find application in point-of-care testing (POCT).

With the advantages of high popularity, convenient operation, open-source operation systems, high resolution imaging, and excellent computing capabilities, smartphones have been widely used as the core of detection system for calculation, control, and real-time display. Hence, smartphones play an important role in electrochemical detection and optical detection. Smartphone-based electrochemical systems were combined with screen-printed electrode and interdigital electrodes for in situ detection. The electrodes were modified with biomaterials, chemical materials, and nanomaterials for biosensors and biodetection, such as 3-amino phenylboronic acid nanocomposites, graphene, gold nanoparticles, zinc oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, proteins, peptides, and antibodies. With the modified electrodes, the smartphone-based impedance system was used to detect acetone, bovine serum albumin, human serum albumin, and trinitrotoluene, while smartphone-based amperometric system was employed to monitor glucose, ascorbic acid, dopamine, uric acid, and levodopa. The smartphone-based electrochemical system for biosensors and biodetection has provided miniaturized and portable alternative for diagnosis, which is promising to find application in point-of-care testing (POCT).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important non-coding, single-stranded RNAs possessing crucial regulating roles in human body. Therefore, miRNAs have received extensive attention from various disciplines as the aberrant expression of miRNAs are tightly related to different types of diseases. Furthermore, the exceptional stability of miRNAs has presented them as biomarker with high specificity and sensitivity. However, small size, high sequence similarity, low abundance of miRNAs impose difficulty in their detection. Hence, it is of utmost importance to develop accurate and sensitive method for miRNA biosensing. Electrochemical biosensors have been demonstrated as promising solution for miRNA detection as they are highly sensitive, facile, and low-cost with ease of miniaturization. The incorporation of nanomaterials to electrochemical biosensor offers excellent prospects for converting biological recognition events to electronic signal for the development of biosensing platform with desired sensing properties due to their unique properties. This review introduces the signal amplification strategies employed in miRNA electrochemical biosensor and presents the feasibility of different strategies. The recent advances in nanomaterial-based electrochemical biosensor for the detection of miRNA were also discussed and summarized based on different types of miRNAs, opening new approaches in biological analysis and early disease diagnosis. Lastly, the challenges and future prospects are discussed.

In recent years, researchers have proven that the employment of natural green components in the biogenesis of nanoparticles from microalgae species is one of the ways to delight the global environment issues. The application of nanotechnology with the exploitation of phycochemical produced from algae species is known as 'phyconanotechnology'. The use of biological compounds by microalgae as reducing agents for the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles has shown promising results such as cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Different classifications of algae such as brown algae, red algae, green algae, and cyanobacteria are studied for the synthesis of different types of metal nanoparticles. It is also an important motive to acknowledge the mechanisms of the microalgae-mediated biosynthesis of nanoparticles via an intracellular pathway or extracellular pathway. Besides, microalgae species as biogenic sources preclude the use of conventional methods reagents, such as sodium borohydride (NaBH

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a kind of optical radiation process triggered by electrochemistry, which has been one of the most important strategies in analytical chemistry and biosensing. Recently, smartphone, as one of the widely-used mobile device, has provided a attractive solution as simple yet powerful sensing platform to satisfy the needs of on-site inspection. Here, ECL on smartphone was put forward for fingerprints mapping and biochemical sensing. The smartphone-based system integrated both electrochemical excitation and optical analysis by built-in functional modules “all in one phone”. Typical enhanced luminescence analysis of nicotine, quenched luminescence analysis of trinitrotoluene (TNT) demonstrated the availability of the phone-based ECL system for biochemical sensing. Furthermore, multimode imaging analysis including color induction, gray processing, and binary extraction on smartphone were used for fingerprints mapping. The grain information of fingerprints was clearly displayed on the luminescence images, even the sweat pores on fingerprints were visible to naked eyes. Finally, in situ sensing of exogenous substances on fingerprints, such as nicotine and TNT were also accomplished by the phone. Results indicated the remarkable performances of the system in ECL, especially in the fields of biochemical sensing and imaging analysis. Because fingerprints were widely used to unlock phones, the combination of fingerprints imaging and sensing on smartphone would be contributed to the development of personal medicine, public health monitoring, and mobile care testing.

Silica nanopores have electron channels and ion channels interpenetrating each other, which prompt the use of this structure for creating efficient electronic devices. In this study, silica nanopores membrane modified screen printed electrodes were applied in a smartphone-based electrochemiluminescence system for nitroaromatic explosives detection. Universal serial bus-on the go (USB-OTG) and camera on smartphone were used as the electrical stimulation and luminescence capture, respectively. ⎕Multimode methods including (red-green-blue) RGB, (hue-saturation-brightness) HSB, and Gray were proposed for luminescence analysis. Specific polypeptides were immobilized on the nanopores modified electrodes for nitroaromatic explosives sensing. With positive-charged tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)32+) as electrochemiluminescence label, the increase in luminescence was associated with the selective ion channels and the well-conductive electron channels in the negative-charged nanopores. Besides, on account of the large specific surface area, nanopores modified screen printed electrodes showed stable and uniform luminescence. Results showed that the nanopores-enhanced electrochemiluminescence on smartphone covered a linear dynamic range from 10−7 mg/mL to 10−3 mg/mL for nitroaromatic explosives detection with the detection limit of 2.3 × 10−9 mg/mL. Therefore, high-efficient photo-electricity conversion capabilities of nanopores made it a kind of promising platform for sensitive and stable electrochemiluminescence. Furthermore, smartphone-based electrochemiluminescence with disposable screen printed electrodes could facilitate the mobile monitoring of biochemical analytes in the fields of environment, security, and health.

Ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid are important electroactive biomolecules for health monitoring and they coexist in serum or urine. Their quantitative determination by electrochemistry could provide the accurate reference for diseases diagnosis and treatment. However, the traditional electrochemical workstations are too large for on-field inspection. Hence, the design of handheld electrochemical system for the detection of biomolecules is significant for point-of-care testing (POCT). In this paper, a smartphone-based integrated voltammetry system using modified electrode was developed for simultaneous detection of biomolecules. The system contained a disposable sensor, a coin-size detector, and a smartphone equipped with application program. Screen-printed electrodes were used as sensors for the detection, on which reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles were electrochemically deposited by the system. The detector was used with voltammetric methods, in which excitation voltage was applied on the sensors and subsequent current responses were detected. The smartphone is the core component to communicate with the detector, calculate data, and plot voltammograms in real-time. Then, the system was applied to detect standard solutions of the biomolecules and their mixtures as examples. The results showed that the peak currents of each substance increased with higher concentration and the method allowed the discrimination of the different potentials of the studied species. Finally, the practical applications of the system were tested through detections of the biomolecules in artificial urine. The results exhibited that the system could be used to detect electrochemical activity of biomolecules with linear, high sensitivity, and specific responses in point-of-care testing.

The use of fungal cultures have been well documented in human history. Although its used in healthcare, like penicillin and statins, have saved countless of lives, but there is still no fungal products that are specifically indicated for cancers. Research into fungal-derived materials to curb cancers in the recent decades have made a considerable progress in terms of drug delivery vehicles, anticancer active ingredients and cancer immunotherapy. Various parts of the organisms have successfully been exploited to achieve specific tasks. Apart from the identification of novel anticancer compound from fungi, its native capsular structure can also be used as drug cargo to achieve higher oral bioavailability. This review summarises the anticancer potential of fungal-derived materials, highlighting the role of capsular polysaccharides, proteins, and other structures in variety of innovative utilities to fit the current pharmaceutical technology. Many bioactive compounds isolated from fungi have also been formulated into nanoparticles to achieve greater anticancer activity. The progress of fungal compounds and their analogues in clinical trials is also highlighted. In addition, the potential of various fungal species to be developed for anticancer immunotherapy are also discussed.

Wearable and flexible biosensing devices have been widely developed for in situ detections. Cortisol is a vital biomarker which plays crucial regulatory role in numerous physiological processes of the human body. Here, a wireless, battery-free, and flexible integrated patch is developed for real-time on-body sweat cortisol detection. The patch integrated with all-printed flexible electrochemical immunosensor, which was used to detect cortisol through differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The near field communication (NFC) module on the patch enables wireless power harvesting and data interaction with an NFC-enabled smartphone, which makes the patch get rid of rigid batteries and realize epidermal on-body testing. Multiple in situ detections on volunteers' sweat on the surface of skin showed that the flexible integrated patch could reflect the circadian rhythm of the body's sweat cortisol level changes in relaxed mood or under stress, which could be confirmed with the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. In this way, the patch provides a rapid-detecting, convenient, and non-invasive sensing solution for in situ analysis of sweat cortisol, which can be applied for the personalized mental health management.

Cortisol is commonly used as a significant biomarker of psychological or physical stress. With the accelerated pace of life, non-invasive cortisol detection at the point of care (POC) is in high demand for personal health monitoring. In this paper, an ultrasensitive immunosensor using gold nanoparticles/molybdenum disulfide/gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/MoS2/AuNPs) as transducer was explored for non-invasive salivary cortisol monitoring at POC with the miniaturized differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) system based on a smartphone. Covalent binding of cortisol antibody (CORT-Ab) onto the AuNPs/MoS2/AuNPs transducer was achieved through the self-assembled monolayer of specially designed polyethylene glycol (PEG, SH-PEG-COOH). Non-specific binding was avoided by passivating the surface with ethanolamine. The miniaturized portable DPV system was utilized for human salivary cortisol detection. A series current response of different cortisol concentrations decreased and exhibited a linear range of 0.5&ndash, 200 nM, the detection limit of 0.11 nM, and high sensitivity of 30 &mu, A M&minus, 1 with a regression coefficient of 0.9947. Cortisol was also distinguished successfully from the other substances in saliva. The recovery ratio of spiked human salivary cortisol and the variation of salivary cortisol level during one day indicated the practicability of the immunosensor based on the portable system. The results demonstrated the excellent performance of the smartphone-based immunosensor system and its great potential application for non-invasive human salivary cortisol detection at POC.

As a taste bionic system, electronic tongues can be used to derive taste information for different types of food. On this basis, we have carried forward the work by making it, in addition to the ability of accurately distinguish samples, be more expressive by speaking evaluative language like human beings. Thus, this paper demonstrates the correlation between the qualitative digital output of the taste bionic system and the fuzzy evaluation language that conform to the human perception mode. First, through principal component analysis (PCA), backward cloud generator and forward cloud generator, two-dimensional cloud droplet groups of different flavor information were established by using liquor taste data collected by electronic tongue. Second, the frequency and order of the evaluation words for different flavor of liquor were obtained by counting and analyzing the data appeared in the artificial sensory evaluation experiment. According to the frequency and order of words, the cloud droplet range corresponding to each word was calculated in the cloud drop group. Finally, the fuzzy evaluations that originated from the eight groups of liquor data with different flavor were compared with the artificial sense, and the results indicated that the model developed in this work is capable of outputting fuzzy evaluation that is consistent with human perception rather than digital output. To sum up, this method enabled the electronic tongue system to generate an output, which conforms to human&rsquo, s descriptive language, making food detection technology a step closer to human perception.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensing has been attracting increasing attention as the generation of PEC current resulting from the biological interactions between biorecognition element and analyte has rendered PEC biosensor with high sensitivity and low detection limit. This review provides a panoramic snapshot of this dynamically developing field, with special emphasis on the design principle in biosensing, critically analyzing graphitic carbon nitride (g–C3N4)–based PEC biosensor. The basis and synthesis approaches for g-C3N4 are summarized, detailing the recent work done. This review highlights the novel concept of g–C3N4–based PEC biosensor based on three design principles: turn-on, turn-off and ratiometric, providing comprehensive design guidelines for researchers to develop more advanced PEC biosensors. Finally, future outlook and challenges for the progression of PEC biosensor are also evaluated and discussed. This work will serve as a useful and informative source for interested audience regarding the latest developments of g–C3N4–based biosensor in the field of PEC bioanalysis.

This paper aims to prepare chitosan (CH)/high methoxyl citrus pectin (HMCP) film catalyzed by Streptomyces coelicolor (SLAC) and explore its properties. The properties of the film forming solution (FFS) and the as-prepared film were studied. The results showed that the FFS with 0.8 U 100 mL−1 SLAC catalysis has higher viscosity and larger particle size; texture analysis showed that the film with 0.8 U 100 mL−1 SLAC possessed the best mechanical properties; morphological and crystallinity analyses (SEM, XRD) demonstrated that the internal structure of the film with 0.8 U 100 mL−1 SLAC was the most uniform. After adding SLAC, the film had better CO2 barrier performance. In conclusion, the properties of CH/HMCP blending film catalyzed by SLAC were improved and displayed promising application in food packaging.

Sand crabs are one of the most important and abundant invertebrates in the sandy beaches ecosystem of the Pacific sea. After death, this crustacean generates large quantities of solid waste in the form of body carapace (exoskeleton), which has caused pollution and affecting human life quality. The carapace is primarily composed of chitin and proteins. Therefore, this bio-waste could be employed as a potential source of chitosan, providing health benefit to human. Thus, in this work, samples with different deacetylation percentage of chitosan were obtained. Separate treatments were applied to the carapace and the ends. The microscopic particles are flake-like structures with size range of 110 – 220 µm and uniformly distributed porosity was found in the end samples. An orthorhombic crystal structure (crystallinity of 30%) was observed, similar to the sample reported in literature. Ash, humidity and insoluble matter percentage confirmed the quality of chitosan for potential biomedical applications.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the wastewater produced during the palm oil sterilization process, which contains substantial amounts of nutrients and phosphorous that are harmful to the environment. High BOD and COD of POME are as high as 100,000 mg/L, which endanger the environment. Effective pre-treatment of POME is required before disposal. As microalgae have the ability of biosorption on nutrients and phosphorous to perform photosynthesis, they can be utilized as a sustainable POME treatment operation, which contributes to effective biofuel production. Microalgae species C. pyrenoidosa has shown to achieve 68% lipid production along with 71% nutrient reduction in POME. In this study, a brief discussion about the impacts of POME that will affect the environment is presented. Additionally, the potential of microalgae in treating POME is evaluated along with its benefits. Furthermore, the condition of microalgae growth in the POME is also assessed to study the suitable condition for microalgae to be cultivated in. Moreover, experimental studies on characteristics and performance of microalgae are being evaluated for their feasibility. One of the profitable applications of POME treatment using microalgae is biofuel production, which will be discussed in this review. However, with the advantages brought from cultivating microalgae in POME, there are also some concerns, as microalgae will cause pollution if they are not handled well, as discussed in the last section of this paper.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus subtype H5N1 has been found to be the most virulent and deadliest virus strain, with capability of interspecies transmission to human infection. Most human HPAI H5N1 cases were diagnosed late in their illnesses for medical care, resulting in severe complications that led to death. In this study, a novel graphene-enhanced electrochemical DNA biosensor had been fabricated for the detection of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicon derived from the haemagglutinin (H5) gene of the HPAI. The graphene-enhanced DNA biosensor showed excellent linear correlation between PCR amplicon concentration and amperometric signal with a correlation coefficient, r2 of 0.9987. The amperometric response of the proposed biosensor was compared with conventional gel electrophoresis while the feasibility of the proposed sandwich sensing platform was verified via dot blot assay. The results obtained indicate that the electrochemical DNA biosensing assay is significantly more sensitive (P < 0.05) and time efficient. This work serves as a proof of concept in hopes for further development of the graphene enhanced electrochemical DNA biosensor into a portable, on-site screening platform for point-of-care detection of various pathogens.

Migration of heavy metals from food contact materials to contained foods and drinks will cause severe health problems. The in situ analysis of the heavy metal ions inside these containers is in high demand. In this study, a fully integrated battery-free and flexible electrochemical tag is presented for wireless in situ detections of heavy metal ions in various containers. The circuit part of the tag is integrated with square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) technique and near field communication (NFC) module, enabling on-board electrochemical sensing, wireless data transmission, and power harvesting. The circuits showed high consistency with commercial electrochemical workstation in SWASV analysis. A screen-printed flexible electrode array is connected with the circuit board. The working electrodes were modified with gold and bismuth nanoparticles respectively, which showed high sensitivity, selectivity, linearity, and reproducibility in the detections of lead and cadmium. The tag achieved quantitative detections of heavy metal ions in various containers, including enamelled cup, ceramic teapot, and dark-red enameled pottery. With proper encapsulation, the miniaturized passive and flexible tag can be attached to the inside surface of various containers for a long time. The wireless detections of heavy metal ions can be achieved just with an NFC-enabled smartphone outside the container. The platform provides a simple and effective solution for in situ analysis of toxic and harmful substances, which can be widely used in the areas of food safety and water quality monitoring.

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are effective cancer biomarkers that are highly stable in body fluids enabling noninvasive detection. Portable, low-cost and efficient biosensing systems is crucial for early on-site diagnosis, especially in resource-limited settings. Present work deals with the development of a smartphone-based biosensing system for electrochemical detection of circulating microRNA-21 (miR-21) biomarker in saliva as a proof-of-concept. The smartphone-based biosensing system composed of a disposable screen-printed biosensor modified with reduced graphene oxide/gold (rGO/Au) composite, a circuit board for detection and a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone equipped with specially designed Android application. The hybridization between miR-21 target and ssDNA probe on the rGO/Au-modified electrode resulted in the decrease in peak current with increase in miR-21 target concentration. The smartphone-based biosensing system showed comparable performance with commercial electrochemical workstation, for miR-21 detection in the concentration range of 1 × 10−4 M to 1 × 10-12 M with correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.99. In addition to good selectivity in discriminating mismatched and non-target sequences, the biosensing system also showed acceptable recovery rate ranging from 96.2%–107.2 % in spiked artificial saliva. The smartphone-based biosensing system is envisioned to be able to realize rapid and highly sensitive detection of circulating miRNA biomarker in body fluid for point-of-care testing in remote areas.

Parkinson's disease caused by lack of dopamine in brain is a common neurodegenerative disorder. The traditional treatment is to replenish levodopa since it could pass through blood brain barrier and form dopamine. However, its accumulation can cause patients’ movement disorders and uncontrollable emotion. Therefore, it is critical to control the levodopa dosage accuracy to improve the curative effect in clinical. In this study, a smartphone-based electrochemical detection system was developed for rapid monitoring of levodopa. The system involved a disposable sensor, a hand-held electrochemical detector, and a smartphone with designed application. Single-wall carbon nanotubes and gold nanoparticles modified screen-printed electrodes were used to convert and amplify the electrochemical current signals upon presence of levodopa molecules. The electrochemical detectors were used to generate electrochemical excitation signals and detect the resultant currents. Smartphone was connected to the detector, which was used to control the detector, calculate data, and plot graph in real-time. The smartphone-based differential pulse amperometry system was demonstrated to monitor levodopa at concentrations as low as 0.5 µM in human serum. Furthermore, it has also been verified to be able to distinguish levodopa from other representative substances in the body. Therefore, its performance was more sensitive and rapid than electrochemical workstation. With these advantages, the system can be used in the field of point-of-care testing (POCT) to detect levodopa and provide the possibility to solve clinical demand for levodopa detection.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have recently exhibited great potential in electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) due to their catalyst and amplification effect towards luminophores. Here, we prepared GQDs nanocomposites to amplify the ECL signals in tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)/tripropylamine (Ru(bpy)32+/TPA) assay. Universal serial bus interface on smartphone was used as the excitation source for ECL. The luminescence signals were then captured by the smartphone camera and processed by a smartphone-based image analysis application (APP). By immobilizing layer of sensitive Escherichia coli (E.coli) antibody on the electrode surface, our smartphone-based ECL system exhibited excellent linear response towards detection of E.coli in the concentration range of 10 cfu/mL to 107 cfu/mL. Due to the vast popularity and portability of smartphone, the scope of application in our system would be able to greatly satisfy the need for point-of-care testing. Thus, in this work, the quantum dots-amplified luminescence detection was integrated with portable analytical devices, offering low-cost and real-time electrochemical analysis.