Point-of-Care Fluorescence Biosensing System for Rapid Multi-Allergen Screening

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 11; p. 3280
• Main Authors: Demuru, Silvia, Chai-Gao, Hui, Shynkarenko, Yevhen, Hermann, Nicola, Boia, Patricia-Daiana, Cristofolini, Peter, Petkus, Bradley, Generelli, Silvia, Paoletti, Samantha, Cattaneo, Stefano, Burr, Loïc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.05.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: allergen; Allergens; Allergens - immunology; Allergic reaction; Allergies; Allergy; Animals; Antibodies; antibody; Automation; Biological products; Biosensing Techniques - instrumentation; Biosensing Techniques - methods; biosensor; Cameras; Cats; Chromatography; Cloning; Communication; Dogs; Enzymes; Fluorescence; Humans; Hypersensitivity - diagnosis; Hypersensitivity - immunology; IgE; Immunoglobulin E; Immunoglobulin E - blood; Immunoglobulin E - immunology; Information management; Laboratories; Microfluidics; Microscopy; Point-of-Care Systems; Proteins; Scanners; Switzerland; portable reader; allergen; optical reader; antibody; biosensor; fluorescence; IgE; allergy; point of care; microfluidics
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24113280

With the steady increase in allergy prevalence worldwide, there is a strong need for novel diagnostic tools for precise, fast, and less invasive testing methods. Herein, a miniatured fluorescence-based biosensing system is developed for the rapid and quantitative detection of allergen-specific immunoglobulin-E. An antibody-based fluorescence assay in a microfluidic-patterned slide, combined with a custom-made portable fluorescence reader for image acquisition and user-friendly software for the data analysis, enables obtaining results for multiple allergens in just ~1 h with only 80 μL of blood serum. The multiplexed detection of common birch, timothy grass, cat epithelia, house dust mite, and dog epithelia shows quantitative IgE-mediated allergic responses to specific allergens in control serum samples with known total IgE concentration. The responses are verified with different control tests and measurements with a commercial fluorescence reader. These results open the door to point-of-care allergy screening for early diagnosis and broader access and for large-scale research in allergies.