# Multi-Parametric Electrochemical Sensing Platform: Applications in Animal Welfare

## TL;DR

A new electrochemical device called PULSE is developed to monitor dairy cattle health by detecting multiple chemical parameters with high accuracy.

## Contribution

The integration of a portable electrochemical platform with multi-sensor capabilities for real-time dairy cattle health monitoring.

## Key findings

- Flexible gold-printed electrodes achieved accurate detection of nitrite and nitrate with high sensitivity.
- PULSE demonstrated lower detection limits and increased sensitivity compared to benchtop potentiostats.
- pH sensing using a commercial electrode achieved high accuracy in ruminal complex fluid.

## Abstract

The rapid growth of the dairy sector requires advanced monitoring tools to ensure sustainable practices that benefit the environment, economy, and human health. Current monitoring devices often lack multi-parametric capabilities, limiting their ability to provide comprehensive data on critical chemical and biochemical parameters. To address this challenge, this work presented the integration of a real-time multi-parametric device with sensors for pH, temperature, nitrate, and nitrite, providing a comprehensive solution to dairy cattle health monitoring. This solution included an electrochemical platform, Portable Unit for Lab-on-Site Electrochemistry (PULSE), and an application for data processing and display. In-house fabricated flexible gold-printed electrodes demonstrated accurate detection of nitrite and nitrate when integrated with the PULSE, achieving sensitivities of 6.32 μA/ppm/cm2 in artificial interstitial fluid and 1.92 μA/ppm/cm2 in phosphate buffered saline, respectively. The PULSE achieved 65.83% and 58.3% lower limits of detection in phosphate buffered saline than a benchtop potentiostat, for nitrate and nitrite, respectively, along with a 24.5% increase in nitrite sensitivity, enhancing its ability to detect lower analyte concentrations. pH sensing was carried out with a commercial screen-printed electrode coated with a layer of iridium oxide. The pH was tested in ruminal complex fluid, obtaining a pH sensitivity of −59.63 mV/pH and an accuracy of 98.9%. These findings highlighted the potential of this technology as an effective tool for dairy cattle health monitoring and its deployment in real-world scenarios.