Wearable cassette for paper-based aptasensor designed to detection of illicit drug; ketamine- a wearable cassette prototype comparison study

The advent of 3D printing technology has spurred innovation, particularly in healthcare and biosensing. One notable application is the creation of wearable biosensors for detecting substances like ketamine, a potent anesthetic and pain reliever with medical and recreational uses. Monitoring ketamine levels is crucial due to potential misuse and health risks. Utilizing 3D printing, manufacturers can produce intricate and customizable wearable biosensors designed for ketamine detection. This flexibility permits the incorporation of various sensor types, enhancing accuracy. Traditional detection methods are often cumbersome, making 3D printing a transformative tool for real-time monitoring. The application of 3D printing in wearable biosensors has the potential to revolutionize personalized healthcare, ensuring the safe and effective usage of ketamine. In this paper 3D printed paper-based wearable aptamer cassette (3DP-PWC) has been developed by immobilizing Ketamine Aptamer on ZnO-NPs electrodes. Electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed for validating results. The sensor’s versatility was demonstrated across beverages encompassing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. Two prototypes—a bracelet and a pendant—were developed and compared, showing promising results. Here, we reported a 3D-printing paper based wearable aptasensor for the ketamine detection. This pioneering developed sensor showed a low limit detection (LOD) of 0.01 μg/mL (lower than the physiological detection threshold 0.084 μg/mL) with linear-range was between 0.01 and 5 μmL and an optimal response time of 25 s.