Chitosan-Graphene Oxide-Based Ultra-Thin and Flexible Sensor for Diabetic Wound Monitoring

This paper presents a Chitosan-Graphene Oxide (CS-GO)-based array of ultra-thin biosensors with gold (Au)-based microgap (60 μm) electrode. The cross-linked GO is shown to improve the stability of chitosan substrate in aqueous medium and compatibility with microfabrication steps. The sensor patch has been evaluated for label-free monitoring by immobilizing the CS-GO surface with human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) of HDF cell immobilized CS-GO surface show quasi-reversible nature with a characteristic cathodic peak at +300 mV and anodic peak at -300 mV. Both peaks are stable and repeatable up to 50-scan cycle without any potential shift. The device shows a steady-state peak enhancement (1.923-11.195nA) during the DHF cell growth period (0-96h). The redox peak enhancement correlates with the cell proliferation rates over time, indicating that it could be employed for investigation of the cyto-physiological state against any endo and exogenous stimulation. In addition, the developed sensor-patch was used to detect a wide range of glucose from 1 μM to 20mM in vitro with a sensitivity of 0.17 μA/mM. Considering these, the presented sensor-patch has a great potential for the detection of glucose level, cell-health proliferation rate at the wound site, and diabetic wound monitoring applications.