Battery-Less NFC Potentiostat for Electrochemical Point-of-Care Sensors Based on COTS Components

This work studies the feasibility of using a battery-less Near-Field Communication (NFC) potentiostat for the next generation of electrochemical point-of-care sensors. A design based on an NFC microchip, a microcontroller, and a custom potentiostat based on an operational amplifier is presented. A proof-of-concept prototype has been designed and used to quantify glucose concentration using commercial glucose test strips from chronoamperometry measurements. The device is harvested and the sensor is read using a mobile phone. The prototype uses an antenna loop covered with ferrite sheets to ensure stable operation of the electronics when the mobile phone is used as reader. The use of ferrite reduces the detuning caused by the proximity of the metal parts of the mobile phone. A comparison with a commercial glucometer device is provided. Results obtained using a commercial glucometer and those provided by the proposed potentiostat show an excellent agreement.