Additively manufactured multiplexed electrochemical device (AMMED) for portable sample-to-answer detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Background:

• Centralized laboratory analysis for biomarkers is time-consuming and resource-intensive.
• Portable, sample-to-answer devices are needed for rapid diagnostics, especially in point-of-care settings.
• Additive manufacturing offers a scalable and cost-effective approach for fabricating complex microfluidic devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a smartphone-operated, additively manufactured multiplexed electrochemical device (AMMED) for portable biomarker detection.
• To demonstrate the device's capability for simultaneous analysis of multiple biomarkers in blood and saliva.
• To assess the clinical feasibility of AMMED for point-of-care diagnostics.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a multiplexed microfluidic electrochemical biosensor using additive manufacturing techniques.
• Integration of a customized portable potentiostat and smartphone application for device control and data acquisition.
• Validation of AMMED performance using SARS-CoV-2 spike protein detection in various media and patient saliva samples.

Main Results:

• AMMED demonstrated accurate and selective detection of biomarkers in a rapid, multiplexed manner (5 min).
• The device achieved a wide dynamic detection range (1-10,000 pg/mL) for the target biomarker.
• Successful assessment of clinical feasibility using patient saliva samples confirmed the device's practical utility.

Conclusions:

• AMMED provides a versatile, portable sample-to-answer platform for biomarker analysis.
• Additive manufacturing enables a scalable, cleanroom-free fabrication of the electrochemical biosensor.
• The developed device holds significant potential for decentralized diagnostics and point-of-care applications.