Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026
Development of a Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic Strip for Rapid and Quantitative Detection of Small Molecule Compounds
Published on: November 13, 2021
Lyotropic liquid crystal as a real-time detector of microbial immune complexes
S L Helfinstine1, O D Lavrentovich, C J Woolverton
1Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
Aims:
To design a simple method for the detection of microbe-immune complexes exploiting the optical and elastic properties of a biocompatible liquid crystalline material.
Methods And Results:
Aqueous solution of disodium cromoglycate (DSCG), a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC), was aligned in a glass cell so as to be optically dark in polarized light. Immune complexes of at least three to four organisms altered the DSCG alignment such that polarized light was subsequently transmitted to reveal the presence of pathogens as optically bright regions around the immune complexes.
Conclusions:
This work describes the first method to detect viable micro-organisms in real time using LCLC.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
This technique provides a powerful tool for the detection of microbes in minutes, exploiting the optical and elastic properties of LC.
