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High School Student with a Traditionally Underrepresented Background

HS Poster

Poster 10 - Acetaminophen Toxicity Detection in Pediatric Patients

Saturday, October 26, 2024
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Location: Exhibit Hall E, F & G

Introduction: Acetaminophen is a common painkiller that can be purchased without prescription. It is simple and suitable for patients of different age groups, thus mostly used in mild to moderate pain management. However, the heavy usage of the drug poses a risk of toxicity and overdose, especially for youth. Current methods for checking acetaminophen levels require taking blood samples, which gives accurate results, though it can be difficult to perform regularly due to the invasive and uncomfortable nature of needles for pediatric patients.
This is the reason our research is targeted at developing another effective method of discovery of the acetaminophen level in the body for pediatric patients: a device that incorporates the electrochemical sensor developed using laser-induced graphene to detect acetaminophen levels in saliva, making it non-invasive and eliminating the need for blood sampling.

Materials and

Methods: Electrode Fabrication:
The Kapton polyimide film was cleaned with acetone, 70% isopropyl alcohol, and deionized (DI) water, before being dried at in an oven at 90°C for 5 minutes. After drying, it was inserted into the laser engraver machine (VLS2.30, Universal Laser Systems Inc.), equipped with a 30W laser source operating at a 9.3 μm wavelength. The electrode’s pattern was designed by Adobe Illustrator (Adobe, Inc.) and raster-engraved onto the PI film. This was followed by applying a Kapton tape to mark the boundaries of the working electrode, and the Ag/AgCl ink over the reference electrode. The
fabrication process is shown in Figure 1G. Finally, the electrodes were cut into the desired shape.

Results, Conclusions, and Discussions: Our system offers an effective monitoring system with flawless and timely interventions by easy and quick detection of acetaminophen levels. This method utilizing the correlation of the salivary concentration of acetaminophen with that in the blood level, will help in better detection of overdose conditions without using a needle.

The sensors were fabricated using Laser-Induced Graphene (LIG) sensors to detect and measure acetaminophen levels within the physiological range typically found in human saliva. In the design, the sensors show an accurate and reliable reading, thus being sensitive enough to detect even low concentrations of acetaminophen present in the body. This functionality renders them usefully for monitoring therapeutic levels of acetaminophen and possible toxicity cases by providing real-time information that can be utilized for clinical and at-home use. The sensors also overlay the physiological range for acetaminophen—a very important factor in the use of these sensors in personalized medicine and patient monitoring, since it is going to provide a non-invasive, convenient way of following up on drug levels to help optimize treatment outcomes.

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