Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is exhibited with gradual loss of kidney function over time. CKD may
be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders. CKD is divided into 5 stages based
on the severity of the disease and the division is determined by calculation of GFR (Glomerlular
Filtration Rate). GFR is calculated based on amount of creatinine filtered by the kidneys. However
there are many drawbacks in using creatinine some being, they are dependent on muscle mass and
diet, race and age. One of the main disadvantage is that there is a blind spot for serum creatinine
usage i.e. the kidney function has to stop functioning by 50% if it needs to be detected and this poses
a serious threat as required treatment cannot be given at the right time and it could be fatal, hence the
need for a more suitable method to estimate the severity of the disease.
If CKD is detected at an early stage (Stage 1-2), mere modifications in diet and intake of ACE
inhibitors may prevent the progression to ESRD. New technologies may offer innovative approaches
in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention that may reach more people than current interventions.
As medical practices of early diagnosis and preventive measures continue to gain traction, the
utilization of bed side diagnostics also known as point of care technologies is anticipated to exhibit
an impressive growth. In this context, there is a rising acceptance for noninvasive biosensors in
global scenario. Designing an electrochemical diagnostic biosensor is an attractive option as they can
be easily be used for on-site detection of samples. High accuracy, specificity, longevity, stability,
cost effectiveness, time taken and ease of experimentation are the key advantages for biosensors
With this objective in mind, our group has developed a point of care device for detection of CKD.
The sensor developed is sensitive as well as specific for different stages of CKD. It has been tested in
varying pH and is able to detect as low as 6 microgram of CKD specific marker per litre of urine. It
has been developed by modifying a multi-walled carbon electrode with capture protein via covalent
immobilization. The binding of the probe to the electrode was confirmed by various microscopic and
spectroscopic methods. A CKD specific marker can bind to the capture molecule producing
variations in the electric current conducted via a surface modified electrode.
Considering 72 million diabetics, 110 million hypertensive subjects, and approximately 40 million
patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases in India are prone to CKD eventually, this new
technique has the potential to be developed into a point of care device for the susceptible population.