Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions

A handheld USB-powered instrument developed for the electrochemical detection of nucleic acids and biomolecular interactions is presented. The proposed instrument is capable of scanning ± 2.25 V while measuring currents up to ±10 mA, with a minimum current resolution of 6.87 pA. Therefore, it is sui...

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Main Authors: Alper Demirhan, Ece Eksin, Yalin Kilic, Arzum Erdem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-09-01
Series:Micromachines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/10/1610
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author Alper Demirhan
Ece Eksin
Yalin Kilic
Arzum Erdem
author_facet Alper Demirhan
Ece Eksin
Yalin Kilic
Arzum Erdem
author_sort Alper Demirhan
collection DOAJ
description A handheld USB-powered instrument developed for the electrochemical detection of nucleic acids and biomolecular interactions is presented. The proposed instrument is capable of scanning ± 2.25 V while measuring currents up to ±10 mA, with a minimum current resolution of 6.87 pA. Therefore, it is suitable for nucleic acid sensors, which have high background currents. A low-cost microcontroller with an on-chip 16-bit analog-to-digital converter, 12-bit digital-to-analog converter, and a built-in USB controller were used to miniaturize the system. The offset voltages and gain errors of the analog peripherals were calibrated to obtain a superior performance. Thus, a similar performance to those of the market-leader potentiostats was achieved, but at a fraction of their cost and size. The performance of the application of this proposed architecture was tested successfully and was found to be similar to a leading commercial device through a clinical application in the aspects of the detection of nucleic acids, such as calf thymus ssDNA and dsDNA, and their interactions with a protein (BSA) by using single-use graphite electrodes in combination with the differential pulse voltammetry technique.
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spelling doaj.art-d8d2c78a270e44ae9b9acaef076d76d02023-11-24T01:21:28ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2022-09-011310161010.3390/mi13101610Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular InteractionsAlper Demirhan0Ece Eksin1Yalin Kilic2Arzum Erdem3Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Ege University, Izmir 35100, TurkeyDepartment of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, Izmir 35100, TurkeyDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Izmir University of Economics, Izmir 35330, TurkeyDepartment of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, Izmir 35100, TurkeyA handheld USB-powered instrument developed for the electrochemical detection of nucleic acids and biomolecular interactions is presented. The proposed instrument is capable of scanning ± 2.25 V while measuring currents up to ±10 mA, with a minimum current resolution of 6.87 pA. Therefore, it is suitable for nucleic acid sensors, which have high background currents. A low-cost microcontroller with an on-chip 16-bit analog-to-digital converter, 12-bit digital-to-analog converter, and a built-in USB controller were used to miniaturize the system. The offset voltages and gain errors of the analog peripherals were calibrated to obtain a superior performance. Thus, a similar performance to those of the market-leader potentiostats was achieved, but at a fraction of their cost and size. The performance of the application of this proposed architecture was tested successfully and was found to be similar to a leading commercial device through a clinical application in the aspects of the detection of nucleic acids, such as calf thymus ssDNA and dsDNA, and their interactions with a protein (BSA) by using single-use graphite electrodes in combination with the differential pulse voltammetry technique.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/10/1610potentiostatdifferential pulse voltammetrypoint-of-care testing
spellingShingle Alper Demirhan
Ece Eksin
Yalin Kilic
Arzum Erdem
Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
Micromachines
potentiostat
differential pulse voltammetry
point-of-care testing
title Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
title_full Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
title_fullStr Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
title_full_unstemmed Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
title_short Low-Cost High-Resolution Potentiostat for Electrochemical Detection of Nucleic Acids and Biomolecular Interactions
title_sort low cost high resolution potentiostat for electrochemical detection of nucleic acids and biomolecular interactions
topic potentiostat
differential pulse voltammetry
point-of-care testing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/13/10/1610
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AT eceeksin lowcosthighresolutionpotentiostatforelectrochemicaldetectionofnucleicacidsandbiomolecularinteractions
AT yalinkilic lowcosthighresolutionpotentiostatforelectrochemicaldetectionofnucleicacidsandbiomolecularinteractions
AT arzumerdem lowcosthighresolutionpotentiostatforelectrochemicaldetectionofnucleicacidsandbiomolecularinteractions