Rapid and Highly Sensitive Detection of C-Reaction Protein Using Robust Self-Compensated Guided-Mode Resonance...

Area of Science:

• Optofluidics
• Biosensing Technology
• Biomedical Diagnostics

Background:

• Early diagnosis of diseases relies on rapid and sensitive detection of biomarkers like C-reactive protein (CRP).
• Point-of-care (POC) applications require compact, stable, and accurate biosensing systems.
• Existing biosensors face challenges with instability due to environmental factors during prolonged detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid, stable, and sensitive guided-mode resonance (GMR) optofluidic biosensing system for CRP detection.
• To implement a self-compensation mechanism to mitigate environmental instability.
• To validate the system's performance for point-of-care (POC) applications.

Main Methods:

• A guided-mode resonance (GMR) optofluidic biosensing system utilizing intensity detection with self-compensation was designed.
• A polarizing beam splitter separated transverse-magnetic (TM) and transverse-electric (TE) polarized light for GMR sensing and background compensation, respectively.
• Low-cost LED and photodetector were employed for real-time intensity detection and biosensing.

Main Results:

• The self-compensation mechanism significantly reduced noise and enhanced system stability and performance over extended detection periods.
• Refractive index experiments demonstrated an 181% improvement in resolution with the compensation system.
• The system achieved an excellent limit of detection of 1.95 × 10^-8 g/mL for CRP detection.

Conclusions:

• The proposed GMR optofluidic biosensing system provides a low-cost, compact, rapid, sensitive, and highly stable solution for CRP detection.
• The self-compensation strategy effectively addresses environmental instability, enhancing measurement accuracy and reliability.
• This validated system holds significant potential for diverse point-of-care (POC) diagnostic applications.