Development of a Portable Dielectric Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Viscosity Variations and Its In Vitro Evaluations Using Saliva Samples of COPD Patients and Healthy Control.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a life-threatening lung disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Although the majority of patients with objective COPD go undiagnosed until the late stages of their disease, recent studies suggest that the regular screening of sputum viscosity could provide important information on the disease detection. Since the viscosity of sputum is mainly defined by its mucin⁻protein and water contents, dielectric biosensors can be used for detection of viscosity variations by screening changes in sputum's contents.