Lithium carbonate is used for treating bipolar disorder, a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings. But using this drug requires caution because the therapeutic concentration range of lithium ions in blood is narrow and close to the toxic range. Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency warns doctors to regularly examine lithium ion concentration levels in the blood of patients given the drug. However, existing examination methods require a large amount of blood, special operations, and large, expensive devices. These methods can be performed only by certain testing laboratories. The present study led by Takeshi Komatsu, a doctoral student at Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, and Professor Manabu Tokeshi, PhD, of the University’s Faculty of Engineering was conducted to address this problem by developing a user-friendly, low-cost method. The study was published online on April 14, 2020 in ACS Sensors. The open-access article is titled “Paper-Based Device for the Facile Colorimetric Determination of Lithium Ions in Human Whole Blood.”The researchers succeeded in making a colorimetric paper-based device that allows point-of-care testing in one step. The device consists of two paper-based elements linked to each other: a blood cell separation unit and a colorimetric detection unit. High-purity cotton blotting paper and a blood cell separation membrane, which are both available on the market, are used as a substrate for each unit, respectively. Hydrophobic ink was coated on the device to allow easy liquid handling.Login Or Register To Read Full Story