Low-Cost Biosensing Technology Detects Disease Biomarkers in Minutes

Rapid at-home tests for diseases like COVID-19 have become increasingly popular for their convenience, but they come with a major drawback: they are less sensitive than the tests performed in medical settings. As a result, individuals may test negative despite being infected. This limitation can cause delays in diagnosis, particularly for serious conditions. Now, the need for more accurate and accessible diagnostics has led to the development of a new biosensing technology that could improve the sensitivity of at-home tests by up to 100 times, potentially expanding rapid screening to other life-threatening conditions like prostate cancer and sepsis.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA, USA) have created a new diagnostic technology that combines the natural "coffee-ring effect," plasmonics, and AI to detect disease biomarkers with remarkable precision. The technology uses a biosensor that concentrates disease biomarkers through the evaporation process of liquid droplets, which leave behind coffee-ring stains. By adding plasmonic nanoparticles to these stains, the system can detect changes in light patterns, which indicate the presence of biomarkers. This process gives results in less than 12 minutes and is significantly more sensitive than traditional tests for viruses like COVID-19. The technology is simple and low-cost, designed to be used in low-resource settings.

Image: The prototype at-home test kit for the new diagnostic includes a 3D printed scaffold (Courtesy of Kamyar Behrouzi/UC Berkeley)

A prototype for this diagnostic test has been validated through testing with disease-relevant proteins, including biomarkers of sepsis. The findings, published in Nature Communications, show that this biosensing method can achieve results 100 times more sensitive than conventional COVID-19 tests. It also has the potential to detect sepsis in 10 to 15 minutes, a critical time frame for patients over 50. The technology could be used in home testing kits for a wide range of conditions, from COVID-19 to prostate cancer. With further development, the researchers aim to make this biosensing approach more widely accessible for regular screening of diseases, especially in environments where medical testing resources are limited.

“This simple yet effective technique can offer highly accurate results in a fraction of the time compared to traditional diagnostic methods,” said Kamyar Behrouzi, Ph.D., who recently completed his Ph.D. in micro-electromechanical systems and nanoengineering at UC Berkeley. “Our work paves the way for more affordable, accessible diagnostics, especially in low-resource settings.”

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