Tantalum oxides as an indicating electrode for pH measurement in the human body

The human organism is under normal circumstances a stable system. The values of traceable chemical and biochemical markers change within a known and often very narrow range. In orthopedics an inflammatory disorder after the implantation can occur. The presence of such a problem demonstrates itself, even in the initial phase, in a drop of pH. A pH sensor, which would be temporarily allocated close to the implant, could therefore instantly indicate the origin of the inflammatory process. The behaviour of tantalum as a pH indicator was studied in this work. In the tested range of pH (4.5-7.5), the potential-pH dependence of this sensor was determined to be at the approximately Nernstian level –59 mV/pH. The main drawback was the long-term initial stabilization of the signal. The only meaningful detection method that could be used in practice is the electrochemical potential-pH dependence monitoring.