A microfluidic SERS platform for real-time monitoring of antiepileptic drugs

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is essential for effective seizure control due to their narrow therapeutic index (NTI), high interpatient variability, and complex pharmacokinetics. However, conventional analytical techniques such as HPLC and LC–MS are time-consuming, require specialized infrastructure, and are not well-suited for rapid or point-of-care applications. To address these limitations, we propose a microfluidic analytical platform integrating surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with embedded plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for sensitive, label-free, and low-volume detection of clinically relevant AEDs. The platform is based on a laser-etched polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel (5 µL) incorporating SERS-active AuNP substrates synthesized via the controlled Turkevich citrate reduction method. This architecture is designed to enable real-time chemical fingerprinting under continuous or semi-continuous flow conditions while maintaining high surface enhancement and reproducibility. Representative AED samples are introduced into the microfluidic channel to explore the acquisition of reproducible SERS spectra across clinically relevant concentration ranges. The system is being evaluated for its ability to provide reliable spectral identification and to operate in the presence of potential matrix interferences arising from biological fluids or pharmaceutical excipients. The proposed microfluidic–SERS platform represents a promising approach for rapid pharmaceutical analysis and may provide the basis for the development of compact diagnostic tools for personalized antiepileptic therapy. Ongoing work is focused on assessing analytical performance and investigating drug–matrix and drug–nanoparticle interactions.