Development of an amperometric biosensor on a toothbrush for glucose

Abstract

The development of simple sensing platforms for evaluating the oral conditions has attracted great attentions for healthcare. Saliva or toothpaste contains various analytes that can indicate health conditions. A salivary glucose sensing platform can provide a convenient and non-invasive alternative detection approach for diabetic patients. Toothbrush is used every day, and it has an easy access to saliva biomarker and toothpaste residues. Here, we demonstrate for the first time an amperometric biosensor on a toothbrush, using glucose as a typical analyte. The carbon graphite ink and the Ag/AgCl ink are painted on a toothbrush as the sensing electrodes, followed by the enzyme immobilization. The sensor shows an excellent detection performance for glucose with a concentration ranging from 0.18 mM to 5.22 mM and a short detection time of less than 5 min. The sensor is promising for the non-invasive monitoring of salivary glucose levels in diabetic patients when they brush their teeth. We anticipate that these results would open up exciting opportunities for developing new toothbrush sensors, as well as advance related healthcare applications.