Fast and reliable urine analysis using a portable platform based on microfluidic electrophoresis chips with electrochemical detection

Abstract

A novel ready-to-use portable microfluidic platform was adapted for analysis of uric acid and related compounds in urine samples. Microfluidic devices, especially microchips electrophoresis (ME), are very attractive for clinical and pharmaceutical analysis. Thus, a novel portable and easy-to-handle instrument, HVStat (165 × 150 × 85 mm), based on microfluidic electrophoresis chips with amperometric detection was used for the determination of uric acid and interfering compounds (ascorbic acid, paracetamol, epinephrine…) in urine samples. Moreover, the microfluidic platform performance is controlled by a user-friendly PC interface (MicruX® Manager) especially designed for the use of microchips electrophoresis with electrochemical detection. The adapted analysis methodology at portable microfluidic platform allows the separation and detection of uric acid and related compounds in less than 90s with minimal sample pre-treatment. Thus, the uric acid is directly detected without previous enzymatic based-reactions or other complex pretreatment. The urine sample is simply diluted in the buffer solution and injected directly in the microchip where the uric acid is separated and detected at the platinum electrode of a SU-8/Pyrex microfluidic chip. The microfluidic chips were used for several analyses with a good performance and precision, decreasing drastically the cost and time per analysis. Thus, the complete microfluidic platform, including the main instrument, reusable holder and microchips, has been demonstrated as an excellent analytical tool for fast and reliable urine analysis.