Delhi: April 23: An advanced, environmentally sustainable, and economical optical sensing platform designed for cholesterol detection can facilitate the early identification of conditions such as atherosclerosis, venous thrombosis, cardiovascular illnesses, heart disease, myocardial infarction, hypertension, and cancer.
Identifying lethal diseases at their initial signs is crucial, as atypical biochemical indicators may occasionally accompany these conditions. Consequently, dependable point-of-care (POC) identification of biomarkers linked to various disorders is essential for individualised health monitoring.
Cholesterol is a vital lipid in humans, synthesised by the liver. It serves as a precursor for vitamin D, bile acids, and steroid hormones. Cholesterol is essential for animal tissues, blood, and nerve cells, and it is conveyed by blood in animals. Cholesterol exists in two forms: LDL (low-density lipoprotein), commonly termed ‘bad’ cholesterol due to its propensity to collect in arterial walls and lead to serious illnesses, and HDL (high-density lipoprotein), recognised as ‘good’ cholesterol.
Nonetheless, it is essential to sustain equilibrium in cholesterol levels. Both elevated and diminished cholesterol levels can result in numerous ailments, including atherosclerosis, venous thrombosis, cardiovascular disorders, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, hypertension, and cancer. Atherosclerotic plaques develop when surplus cholesterol accumulates on arterial walls, obstructing adequate blood flow.
A consortium of interdisciplinary researchers at the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) in Guwahati, an autonomous entity under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has devised an optical sensing platform for cholesterol detection utilising silk fibre functionalised with phosphorene quantum dots.
A laboratory-scale point-of-care (POC) device has been created for cholesterol detection. It can detect cholesterol in minimal quantities, even beneath the optimal range. It can serve as an effective instrument for the regular assessment of cholesterol levels in the human body.
The project, directed by Prof. Neelotpal Sen Sarma, a retired professor; Dr. Asis Bala, an associate professor; and Ms. Nasrin Sultana, a DST INSPIRE Senior Research Fellow, integrated silk fibre into a cellulose nitrate membrane to develop an electrical sensing platform for cholesterol detection.
The synthesized sensors were highly sensitive as well as selective for cholesterol detection. Furthermore, the electrical sensing platform generates no e-waste, a key advantage of the fabricated device. Both sensing platforms respond similarly to real-world media such as human blood serum, experimental rat blood serum, and milk. The work was published in the “Nanoscale” Journal, published by Royal Society of Chemistry. Source: PIB
