Novel Approach to Overcome Biofouling in Biosensors
University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed a novel two-electrode-based correction approach to improve accuracy of biosensors.
Description
Label-free biosensors are devices that detect chemical or biological species based on direct binding between a target biomolecule and an analyte molecule on the sensor. They are widely used in medical settings including real-time monitoring without the need for multistep laboratory analysis (e.g., ELISA). A common problem with label-free biosensors is interference from non-specific or off-target material found in the sample material (e.g., blood) often referred to as biofouling. This novel approach is designed to overcome the challenges of biofouling improving the accuracy of label-free biosensors, potentially increasing their use in clinical settings for better patient diagnosis and management.Applications
· Improving accuracy and sensitivity of biosensors· Rapid screening for early detection of cardiovascular (CV) and other diseases
· Real-time patient monitoring of chemical and biological molecules
Advantages
A major challenge with biosensor accuracy is interference in the form of biofouling. A particular challenge is the non-specific adsorption (NSA) of non-target molecules to the biosensor surface. While efforts have been made to prevent biofouling in the form of coatings, these are unstable and can deteriorate with time.This novel two-electrode approach is designed to overcome the problem through detection of biofouling using a baseline biosensor (BB). An additional electrode, a sensing biosensor (Bs) will detect the target biomolecule with the results of BB used to calculate baseline to account for biofouling. This approach allows for multiple biomolecule detection simultaneously using one BB with multiple Bs and could be applied to any electrochemical technique to detect chemical and biological molecules including drugs, proteins, and RNA.