A 3D-printed device for a smartphone-based chemiluminescence biosensor for lactate in oral fluid and sweat

Increasingly, smartphones are used as portable personal computers, revolutionizing communication styles and entire lifestyles. Using 3D-printing technology we have made a disposable minicartridge that can be easily prototyped to turn any kind of smartphone or tablet into a portable luminometer to detect chemiluminescence derived from enzyme-coupled reactions. As proof-of-principle, lactate oxidase was coupled with horseradish peroxidase for lactate determination in oral fluid and sweat. Lactate can be quantified in less than five minutes with detection limits of 0.5 mmol L−1 (corresponding to 4.5 mg dL−1) and 0.1 mmol L−1 (corresponding to 0.9 mg dL−1) in oral fluid and sweat, respectively. A smartphone-based device shows adequate analytical performance to offer a cost-effective alternative for non-invasive lactate measurement. It could be used to evaluate lactate variation in relation to the anaerobic threshold in endurance sport and for monitoring lactic acidosis in critical-care patients.