Electronic Tongue for Simultaneous Detection of Endotoxins and Contaminants of Microbiological Origin

FERNANDO BATTAGLINI; JORGE EDUARDO YANEZ HERAS; DIEGO PALLAROLA; GRACIELA PRIANO; ALEJANDRO OLIVIERI

Dusseldorf

Conferencia; 11th Fresenius Inventors Fair in Medica 2010; 2010

Fresenius

Microbiological water quality is extremely important in medical treatments where aqueous solutions have access to the bloodstream, such as intravenous infusions and hemodialysis solutions. In hemodialysis therapy, patients with renal failure are exposed to large volumes of water, being the barrier between blood and dialysis fluid a semipermeable membrane. These membranes are effective in avoiding the passage of whole microorganisms, however their efficiency is limited regarding many relatively small sized toxic or potentially pro-inflammatory products coming from bacterial lysis (e.g.: lipopolysaccharides, nucleic acids, proteins). We present a novel platform for simultaneous detection of endotoxins and other bacterial lysis contaminating species in parenteral formulations. The technique employed is Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), with data interpretation using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The recognition mechanism is based on two LPS recognition agents. The sensor array achieves endotoxin quantification levels below pharmaceutical regulations and discrimination of LPS from samples containing nucleic acids, proteins, phospholipids or their mixtures.