A Hand-Held Point-of-Care Biosensor Device for Detection of Multiple Cancer and Cardiac Disease Biomarkers Using...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Biosensor Technology
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Background:

• Early detection of cancer and cardiovascular diseases is crucial for effective treatment.
• Current diagnostic methods can be time-consuming and require specialized laboratory equipment.
• There is a need for rapid, accessible diagnostic tools for widespread screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a hand-held point-of-care device for label-free detection of multiple disease biomarkers.
• To integrate a lab-on-a-chip module with interdigitated capacitive biosensors for enhanced sensitivity.
• To enable rapid, onsite diagnosis of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Main Methods:

• A prototype device was developed, featuring a cartridge with interdigitated capacitive biosensors and a hand-held readout unit.
• Capacitive biosensors were preactivated with specific antibodies for single or multiplex biomarker detection.
• The detection principle relies on measuring capacitance changes due to antibody-antigen binding and dielectric constant alterations.

Main Results:

• The device demonstrated label-free detection of multiple cancer and cardiovascular disease biomarkers.
• Onsite diagnosis was achieved in less than 30 minutes.
• The device was successfully verified using real patient blood samples for six different biomarkers.

Conclusions:

• The developed hand-held device offers a promising solution for rapid, point-of-care diagnosis of critical diseases.
• The use of capacitive biosensors enables sensitive and label-free detection of biomarkers.
• This technology has the potential to improve early disease detection and patient outcomes.