The value of electrochemical ratiometry in immunosensing: A systematic study

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Biosensing
• Nanomaterials

Background:

• Electrochemical immunosensors face challenges in reproducibility and accuracy, leading to false results and hindering adoption.
• Ratiometry has shown potential in addressing these limitations, but its full benefits and mechanisms remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively investigate the benefits and mechanisms of ratiometry in electrochemical immunosensors.
• To establish electrochemical immunosensors as a viable alternative to gold-standard diagnostic methods.

Main Methods:

• Construction of labeled and label-free electrochemical immunosensors for SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus quantification.
• Utilizing electrochemically synthesized graphene modified electrodes with various electrochemical probe pairs.
• Comparison of conventional and ratiometric immunosensor designs.

Main Results:

• Electrocatalyst modification significantly enhances immunosensor sensitivity.
• Ratiometry substantially improves reproducibility, accuracy, and stability of electrochemical immunosensors.
• Ratiometry effectively compensates for inherent errors and dynamic variations in the base electrode.

Conclusions:

• Ratiometry is a key strategy for enhancing electrochemical immunosensor performance, addressing critical limitations.
• Electrochemical immunosensors utilizing ratiometry can rival the performance of PCR for immunoassay diagnosis.
• Electrochemical ratiometry holds great promise for developing nucleic acid detection methods for point-of-care testing (POCT).