Innovative nanotransistor for easy measurement of electrolyte concentration in blood

Testing the blood of patients that doctors believe may be suffering from an electrolyte imbalance is usually a major effort because various selective tests have to be performed. Electrolytes are certain nutrients or chemicals in the body that carry out a number of important functions, such as regulating the heartbeat. A disruption of the electrolyte balance can be dangerous. Researchers working in the field of chemistry are examining the chemical compounds of electrolytes, which are partly split into ions and conduct electrical currents. Remco Hartkamp, tenure-track lecturer of computational chemical physics at the Department of Process & Energy, developed a new method, together with researchers from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France and the NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Japan, that will make it easier to measure the concentration of different electrolytes in the body using a nanotransistor. The results of the research were published this month in the Nature Materials: "Selective layer-free blood serum ionogram based on ion-specific interactions with a nanotransistor."