A smartphone-integrated ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform for visual and quantitative point-of-care testing of tetracycline

Tianlin Wang; Qingsong Mei; Zhanhui Tao; Haotian Wu; Minyang Zhao; Shuo Wang; Yaqing Liu

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2019.111791

A smartphone-integrated ratiometric fluorescence sensing platform for visual and quantitative point-of-care testing of tetracycline

Biosens Bioelectron. 2020 Jan 15:148:111791. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111791. Epub 2019 Oct 18.

Authors

Tianlin Wang¹, Qingsong Mei², Zhanhui Tao¹, Haotian Wu¹, Minyang Zhao¹, Shuo Wang³, Yaqing Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, PR China.
² School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, China.
³ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Food Science and Health, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China. Electronic address: wangshuo@nankai.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, PR China; Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100037, PR China. Electronic address: yaqingliu@tust.edu.cn.

PMID: 31677526
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111791

Abstract

A smartphone-integrated ratiometric fluorescent sensing system (DPA-Ce-GMP-Eu) for visual and point-of-care testing (POCT) of tetracycline with high sensitivity and accuracy was developed. The blue fluorescence of DPA-Ce-GMP was changed into red by doping with Eu³⁺ duo to the energy transfer from Ce³⁺ to Eu³⁺. Upon exposure to tetracycline, coordination between Eu³⁺ and tetracycline blocks energy transfer from Ce³⁺ to Eu³⁺, converting the fluorescent color from red to blue. The tetracycline detection can be realized within a wide concentration range from 0.01 μM to 45 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) reaches as low as 6.6 nM. To realize quantitative point-of-care detection in real samples, a portable device with smartphone as signal reader and analyzer is further designed to integrate with the DPA-Ce-GMP-Eu sensing platform. The Color Picker APP installed in the smartphone can convert the Red, Green and Blue (RGB) channels of the fluorescence images into digital values. With milk as real sample, tetracycline can be on-site detected with LOD of 10.8 nM. This developed platform presents a great promise for POCT in practical application with merits of low cost, easy carry, simple operation, and excellent selectivity and repeatability.

Keywords: Fluorescence; Portable device; Ratiometric; Smartphone-based detection; Tetracycline.

Publication types

Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents / analysis*
Biosensing Techniques / instrumentation*
Cerium / chemistry
Equipment Design
Europium / chemistry
Fluorescence
Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
Food Analysis / instrumentation
Food Contamination / analysis*
Limit of Detection
Milk / chemistry
Pork Meat / analysis
Smartphone / instrumentation*
Spectrometry, Fluorescence / instrumentation
Tetracycline / analysis*

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Fluorescent Dyes
Cerium
Europium
Tetracycline