Determination of urea with an ammonia gas-sensitive semiconductor device in combination with urease

An ammonia gas-sensitive Ir/Pd MOS capacitor is used for urea determinations with the aid of urease in two different systems. One combination utilizes a reaction column with immobilized urease in a flow-injection system. The lower limit of urea detection for 150-μl samples was 0.2 μM. Urea in whole blood and blood serum was determined after a 500-fold dilution, and 15 samples per hour could be assayed. The relative standard deviation was 4.6% (n=10). Recovery tests were satisfactory. Values obtained for urea in serum correlated well with those from a spectrophotometric method. The other combination is based on a small flow cell with free urease enclosed between a dialysis membrane and a gas-permeable membrane. Urea was determined in the concentration range 0.01–50 mM. The enzyme probe could be used for up to four days without changes of behaviour.