Ultrafast Multiplexed-Allergen Detection through Advanced Fluidic Design and Monolithic Interferometric Silicon Chips

Area of Science:

• * Materials Science and Engineering
• * Analytical Chemistry
• * Biotechnology

Background:

• * Accurate and rapid detection of food allergens is crucial for public health and food safety.
• * Existing methods like ELISA can be time-consuming and require laboratory settings.
• * There is a need for miniaturized, on-site analytical tools for simultaneous multiallergen detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To develop and validate a silicon-based miniaturized sensor chip with a microfluidic module.
• * To enable simultaneous, label-free immunochemical determination of four key allergens.
• * To assess the sensor's performance for on-site multianalyte food safety applications.

Main Methods:

• * Fabrication of a silicon sensor chip with an array of 10 broad-band Mach-Zehnder interferometers (BB-MZIs).
• * Biofunctionalization of BB-MZIs with antibodies against bovine milk protein, peanut protein, soy protein, and gliadin.
• * Simultaneous detection using a microfluidic module for uniform reagent delivery and spectral monitoring via a spectrometer.

Main Results:

• * Achieved reliable multianalyte determination with coefficients of variation (CV) <6%.
• * Demonstrated rapid analysis time of 6.5 minutes with low detection limits (0.04–1.0 μg/mL).
• * Validated accuracy (88–118% recovery) and repeatability (intra-/interassay CVs <7%), with results comparable to ELISA.

Conclusions:

• * The developed silicon sensor chip and microfluidic system provide a powerful tool for simultaneous, label-free allergen detection.
• * The system's miniaturization, speed, and accuracy make it ideal for on-site food safety monitoring.
• * This technology facilitates efficient quality control in industries like dairy processing.