Redox cycling-based amplifying electrochemical sensor for in situ clozapine antipsychotic treatment monitoring

•A new concept for clozapine in situ sensing with minimal pre-treatment procedures.•A catechol-chitosan redox cycling system amplifies clozapine oxidation current.•The modified amplifier signal is 3 times greater than the unmodified system.•Differentiation between clozapine and its metabolite norclozapine has been shown.•The sensor has the capability to detect clozapine in human serum. Schizophrenia is a lifelong mental disorder with few recent advances in treatment. Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic for schizophrenia treatment. However, it remains underutilized since frequent blood draws are required to monitor adverse side effects, and maintain clozapine concentrations in a therapeutic range. Micro-system technology utilized towards real-time monitoring of efficacy and safety will enable personalized medicine and better use of this medication. Although work has been reported on clozapine detection using its electrochemical oxidation, no in situ monitoring of clozapine has been described. In this work, we present a new concept for clozapine in situ sensing based on amplifying its oxidation current. Specifically, we use a biofabricated catechol-modified chitosan redox cycling system to provide a significant amplification of the generated oxidizing current of clozapine through a continuous cycle of clozapine reduction followed by re-oxidation. The amplified signal has improved the signal-to-noise ratio and provided the required limit-of-detection and dynamic range for clinical applications with minimal pre-treatment procedures. The sensor reports on the functionality and sensitivity of clozapine detection between 0.1 and 10μg/mL. The signal generated by clozapine using the catechol-modified chitosan amplifier has shown to be 3 times greater than the unmodified system. The sensor has the ability to differentiate between clozapine and its metabolite norclozapine, as well as the feasibility to detect clozapine in human serum in situ within the required dynamic range for clinically related applications. This new biosensing approach can be further developed towards its integration in miniaturized devices for improved personalized mental health care.