Creatinine Continuous Biosensor

Sensor for continuous monitoring of kidney function biomarker

The Problem

10% of the population globally is affected by chronic kidney disease, with over 750,000 people in the US alone. Patients of kidney failure experience an accumulation of waste in the bloodstream, altering the ionic homeostasis of their blood. Generally, the clearance of substances that are freely filtered but not secreted or reabsorbed by the kidneys is used to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in clinical settings, with creatinine meeting the criteria. 

Creatinine is a product of the metabolism of creatine, which is produced in the liver from three amino acids, methionine, arginine, and glycine, and stored in muscle to be used as a source of energy once phosphorylated. Creatinine is normally excreted through healthy kidneys, but during kidney failure, the GFR reduces and there is a buildup of high labels of creatinine in the blood. 

The Solution

There is growing promise to use biosensors for continuous monitoring. While biosensors’ current role in healthcare is mainly for diagnosis, if applied as monitors, they could spare kidney disease patients trips to hospitals. 

References

Full description of last year’s SensUs competition here: SensUs Event 2024. 

While this link is for the 2024 competition, the 2025 SensUs theme remains creatinine continuous biosensors.