A smartphone platform for the quantification of vitamin D levels

Lab Chip. 2014 Apr 21;14(8):1437-42. doi: 10.1039/c3lc51375k.

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a number of diseases and adverse outcomes including: osteoporosis, infections, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and even cancer. At present the vast majority of vitamin D testing is performed in large-scale laboratories at the request of a physician as part of an annual panel of blood tests. Here we present a system for rapid quantification of vitamin D levels on a smartphone. The system consists of a smartphone accessory, an app, and a test strip that allows the colorimetric detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D using a novel gold nanoparticle-based immunoassay. We show that the system can be used to accurately measure physiological levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with accuracy better than 15 nM and a precision of 10 nM. We compare our system with well-established ELISA test kits for serum samples of unknown concentration and demonstrate equivalency of the results. We envision this as the first step towards the development of the NutriPhone, a comprehensive system for the analysis of multiple vitamins and micronutrients on a smartphone.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Phone*
  • Colorimetry
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Gold / chemistry
  • Immunoassay / instrumentation*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Reagent Strips / chemistry
  • Surface Properties
  • Vitamin D / analogs & derivatives*
  • Vitamin D / analysis
  • Vitamin D / chemistry

Substances

  • Reagent Strips
  • Vitamin D
  • Gold
  • 25-hydroxyvitamin D