Raspberry-Pi Based System for Propofol Monitoring

Anesthesia inducted with propofol is a nowadays largely adopted technique in hospital environments. The correct balancing of this compound is essential to avoid under- or over-dosages that may result in serious side-effects. Therefore, we are here presenting the design and the validation of a custom-made, low-cost and portable Point-of-Care (PoC) system based on electrochemical detection for propofol monitoring. Fouling phenomenon due to phenolic oxidation of propofol has been overcome by adopting a Pencil Graphite Electrode (PGE) 3H as sensor. The validation of the system focused on testing the measurement speed through scan-rate analysis, which is important due to the fast clearance of propofol metabolism; and on interference study with Paracetamol (APAP), since it is an analgesic compound frequently administered with propofol in medical practices.