Saliva can provide a plethora of valuable information about our health. Scientists can even use it to detect signs of heart failure. But let’s be honest: medical tests, even something as simple as saliva collection, aren’t much fun, especially for kids. Now, researchers at the University of Southern California have come up with a way to make medical testing a little less of a bitter experience – quite literally.
Lollylab is a lollipop-inspired device that packs a miniature laboratory inside. It consists of two plastic pieces with stems and rounded tops that snap together. The rounded head has small holes, while the glass-fiber stem is lined with paper. Saliva enters through the holes, flows down the stem, and reaches a graphene sensor at the bottom of the device in about 60 seconds.
But what’s this tiny laboratory looking for? It’s targeted at acetaminophen, a common ingredient in painkillers and cold and flu medicines. Even though medications containing acetaminophen are available over the counter, taking too much can have some very serious side effects, including liver damage. Accidental dosing mistakes are especially dangerous when it comes to children.
Another reason the researchers chose acetaminophen is that its concentration in saliva can reflect its level in the bloodstream quite precisely. This could make it possible to detect and monitor the drug without drawing blood. And very little saliva is needed for the test – just about 0.3 milliliters, or roughly six drops.
The best part of Lollylab? Its rounded top is coated with a red, peach-flavored candy shell. This might seem like an optional bonus feature, but it actually has an important practical purpose, too: it gives the device a familiar, child-friendly form, allowing users to collect saliva easily by licking it.
To detect the drug, the device uses an electrode made from laser-induced graphene. It’s already widely used in wearable health monitors, environmental sensors, and water purification systems. When saliva containing acetaminophen reaches the electrode’s surface, it triggers a chemical reaction. This reaction produces an electrical signal that the sensor can measure to detect the presence of acetaminophen.
The researchers tested Lollylab using both artificial and real human saliva. The human study was pretty small: six adults took acetaminophen and provided the samples by licking Lollylab. The device detected the drug in less than two minutes. Participants also reported that this method was much easier and more comfortable than collecting saliva with conventional swabs.
Even given the positive results, this technology is still in its early stages, and Lollylab remains an experimental prototype, at least for now. In the future, researchers plan to conduct larger studies and adapt the technology to detect other substances in saliva. If successful, this could change the way we think about medical testing. And let’s be honest – adults might secretly be just as excited about it as kids.
Source: American Chemical Society
