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Optimization, fabrication, and characterization of four electrode-based sensors for blood impedance measurement

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Abstract

In this work, an optimized, non-invasive four electrode-based impedimetric sensors have been designed, fabricated, and characterized for measuring the impedance of a biological cell. The impedimetric sensors having four mono-polar electrodes were fabricated utilizing the photolithography technique with gold as the electrode material. Furthermore, the impedance of the electrolyte/electrode interface was simulated by optimizing different parameters, including applied voltage, PBS thickness, and diameter, using COMSOL Multiphysics software for a frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz. Next, the impedance of the fabricated device was measured experimentally using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. Then, the COMSOL data was equated with the impedance obtained from the fabricated devices to realize the feasibility and error percentage (RSE < 5%) of the sensor. The equivalent circuit model for the measured impedance data of PBS was obtained utilizing the ZsimpWin software. Besides, the mathematical relations between the impedance, phase angle and the area of the electrode were interpreted for the fabricated impedimetric sensors. Later on, a real blood sample was also characterized to demonstrate the feasibility and the validity of the proposed technique and the fabricated devices in cell diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (BT/PR 25095/NER/95/1011/2017). RP and A.K. are thankful to the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the fellowship. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Institute Instrumentation Centre of Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee are sincerely acknowledged for providing the various analytical facilities.

Funding

Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (BT/PR 25095/NER/95/1011/2017).

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Author notes

  1. Rangadhar Pradhan, Sanjana Afrin Raisa and Pramod Kumar contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Nanotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Rangadhar Pradhan & Gopinath Packirisamy

  2. Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Sanjana Afrin Raisa, Pramod Kumar, Narendra Kumar & Sanjeev Manhas

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Ashish Kalkal & Gopinath Packirisamy

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  1. Rangadhar Pradhan
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Correspondence to Rangadhar Pradhan or Sanjeev Manhas.

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Pradhan, R., Raisa, S.A., Kumar, P. et al. Optimization, fabrication, and characterization of four electrode-based sensors for blood impedance measurement. Biomed Microdevices 23, 9 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-021-00545-4

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