A portable, low-cost lactate measurement system

Abstract

Lactate, as a metabolite, plays a significant role in a number of fields, including medical diagnostics, exercise physiology and food science. Traditional methods for lactate measurement often involve expensive and cumbersome instrumentation. This study developed a portable and low-cost lactate measurement system, including independently detectable hardware circuits and user-friendly embedded software, computer, and smartphone applications. The experiment verified that the relative error of the detection current in the device circuit was less than 1%. The electrochemical performance was measured by comparing the [Fe(CN)₆]^3-/[Fe(CN)₆]^4- solution with the desktop electrochemical workstation CHI660E, and a nearly consistent chronoamperometry(CA) curve was obtained. Two modified lactate sensors were used for CA testing of lactate. Within the concentration range of 0.1 mmol·L^-1 to 20 mmol·L^-1, there was a good linear relationship between lactate concentration and steady-state current, with a correlation coefficient (R²) greater than 0.99 and good repeatability, demonstrating the reliability of the developed device. The lactate measurement system developed in this study not only provides excellent detection performance and reliability, but also achieves portability and low cost, providing a new solution for lactate measurement.

Keywords

lactate measurement / portable device / embedded development / lactate sensor / electrochemical analysis

References

[1] ALIZADEH T, NAYERI S, MIRZAEE S. A high performance potentiometric sensor for lactic acid determination based on molecularly imprinted polymer/MWCNTs/PVC nanocomposite film covered carbon rod electrode. Talanta, 2019, 192: 103-111.

[2] BIAGI S, GHIMENTI S, ONOR M, et al. Simultaneous determination of lactate and pyruvate in human sweat using reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography: a noninvasive approach. Biomedical Chromatography, 2012, 26(11): 1408-1415.

[3] GOODWIN M L, HARRIS J E, HERNÁNDEZ A, et al. Blood lactate measurements and analysis during exercise: a guide for clinicians. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 2007, 1(4): 558-569.

[4] BONAVENTURA J M, SHARPE K, KNIGHT E, et al. Reliability and accuracy of six hand-held blood lactate analysers. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 2015, 14(1): 203-214.

[5] RAA A, SUNDE G A, BOLANN B, et al. Validation of a point-of-care capillary lactate measuring device (Lactate Pro 2). Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, 2020, 28(1): 83.

[6] MENTZONI F, SKAUGEN M, EYTHORSDOTTIR I, et al. Precision and accuracy of four handheld blood lactate analyzers across low to high exercise intensities. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2024, 124(12): 3781-3788.

[7] LEE S, SONG J, LEE S, et al. Impact of point-of-care lactate testing for sepsis on bundle adherence and clinical outcomes in the emergency department: a pre-post observational study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2024, 13(18): 5389.

[8] FREEMAN D M E, MING D K, WILSON R, et al. Continuous measurement of lactate concentration in human subjects through direct electron transfer from enzymes to microneedle electrodes. ACS Sensors, 2023, 8(4): 1639-1647.

[9] OLIVEIRA C, TEIXEIRA J A, OLIVEIRA N, et al. Microneedles' device: design, fabrication, and applications. Macromol, 2024, 4(2): 320-355.

[10] MING D K, JANGAM S, GOWERS S A N, et al. Real-time continuous measurement of lactate through a minimally invasive microneedle patch: a phase I clinical study. BMJ Innovations, 2022, 8(2): 87-94.

[11] CHINNADAYYALA S R, PARK J, LE H T N, et al. Recent advances in microfluidic paper-based electrochemiluminescence analytical devices for point-of-care testing applications. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2019, 126: 68-81.

[12] YAO Y, LU Y L, ZHANG Q, et al. Biomimetic olfactory sensor for dynamically and conveniently monitoring ligands binding to odorant-binding proteins with impedance sensing. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2015, 10(7): 5548-5560.

[13] HUANG X W, XU D D, CHEN J, et al. Smartphone-based analytical biosensors. Analyst, 2018, 143(22): 5339-5351.

[14] CHEN W H, YAO Y, CHEN T Y, et al. Application of smartphone-based spectroscopy to biosample analysis: a review. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2021, 172: 112788.

[15] ZHU L H, LI S, LIU W X, et al. Real time detection of 3-nitrotyrosine using smartphone-based electrochemiluminescence. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2021, 187: 113284.

[16] ROWE A A, BONHAM A J, WHITE R J, et al. CheapStat: an open-source, “Do-it-yourself” potentiostat for analytical and educational applications. PLoS One, 2011, 6(9): e23783.

[17] DRYDEN M D M, WHEELER A R. DStat: a versatile, open-source potentiostat for electroanalysis and integration. PLoS One, 2015, 10(10): e0140349.

[18] AHMAD R, SURYA S G, BATISTA SALES J, et al. KAUSTat: a wireless, wearable, open-source potentiostat for electrochemical measurements//2019 IEEE Sensors, October 27-30, 2019, Montreal, QC, Canada. New York: IEEE, 2019: 1-4.

[19] ADAMS S D, DOEVEN E H, QUAYLE K, et al. MiniStat: development and evaluation of a mini-potentiostat for electrochemical measurements. IEEE Access, 2019, 7: 31903-31912.

[20] HOILETT O S, WALKER J F, BALASH B M, et al. KickStat: A coin-sized potentiostat for high-resolution electrochemical analysis. Sensors, 2020, 20(8): 2407.

[21] LEE S C, BURKE P J. NanoStat: an open source, fully wireless potentiostat. Electrochimica Acta, 2022, 422: 140481.

[22] BILL D, JASPER M, WELTIN A, et al. Electrochemical methods in the cloud: FreiStat, an IoT-enabled embedded potentiostat. Analytical Chemistry, 2023, 95(35): 13003-13009.

[23] LAFUENTE J L, GONZÁLEZ S, AIBAR C, et al. Continuous and non-invasive lactate monitoring techniques in critical care patients. Biosensors, 2024, 14(3): 148.

[24] RATHEE K, DHULL V, DHULL R, et al. Biosensors based on electrochemical lactate detection: a comprehensive review. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports, 2016, 5: 35-54.

[25] SAINZ R, DEL POZO M, VÁZQUEZ L, et al. Lactate biosensing based on covalent immobilization of lactate oxidase onto chevron-like graphene nanoribbons via diazotization-coupling reaction. Analytica Chimica Acta, 2022, 1208: 339851.

[26] KIM S, KIM K, KIM H J, et al. Non-enzymatic electrochemical lactate sensing by NiO and Ni(OH)₂ electrodes: a mechanistic investigation. Electrochimica Acta, 2018, 276: 240-246.

[27] WANG Q Q, PAN Y, WANG Y Y, et al. A reliable, practical and cost-effective portable wireless potentiostat for mobile chemical sensing and biosensing. Measurement Science and Technology, 2025, 36(1): 015903.

[28] AHMADI M M, JULLIEN G A. A very low power CMOS potentiostat for bioimplantable applications//Fifth International Workshop on System-on-Chip for Real-Time Applications, July 20-24, 2005, Banff, AB, Canada. New York: IEEE, 2005: 184-189.

[29] MARTIN S M, GEBARA F H, STRONG T D, et al. A low-voltage, chemical sensor interface for systems-on-chip: the fully-differential potentiostat//2004 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, May 23-26, 2004, Vancouver, BC, Canada. New York: IEEE, 2004: IV-892.

[30] NICHOLSON R S, SHAIN I. Theory of stationary electrode polarography. single scan and cyclic methods applied to reversible, irreversible, and kinetic systems. Analytical Chemistry, 1964, 36(4): 706-723.

[31] HASANOV A, HASANOGLU Ş. Analytical formulaes and comparative analysis for linear models in chronoamperometry under conditions of diffusion and migration. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 2008, 44(1): 133-141.

[32] SHITANDA I, OZONE Y, MORISHITA Y, et al. Air-bubble-insensitive microfluidic lactate biosensor for continuous monitoring of lactate in sweat. ACS Sensors, 2023, 8(6): 2368-2374.