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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with a severe loss in thinking, learning, and memory functions of the brain. To date, no specific treatment has been proven to cure AD, with the early diagnosis being vital for mitigating symptoms. A common pathological change found in AD-affected brains is the accumulation of a protein named amyloid-β (Aβ) into plaques. In this work, we developed a micron-scale organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) integrated with a microfluidic platform for the label-free detection of Aβ aggregates in human serum. The OECT channel–electrolyte interface was covered with a nanoporous membrane functionalized with Congo red (CR) molecules showing a strong affinity for Aβ aggregates. Each aggregate binding to the CR-membrane modulated the vertical ion flow toward the channel, changing the transistor characteristics. Thus, the device performance was not limited by the solution ionic strength nor did it rely on Faradaic reactions or conformational changes of bioreceptors. The high transconductance of the OECT, the precise porosity of the membrane, and the compactness endowed by the microfluidic enabled the Aβ aggregate detection over eight orders of magnitude wide concentration range (femtomolar–nanomolar) in 1 μL of human serum samples. We expanded the operation modes of our transistors using different channel materials and found that the accumulation-mode OECTs displayed the lowest power consumption and highest sensitivities. Ultimately, these robust, low-power, sensitive, and miniaturized microfluidic sensors helped to develop point-of-care tools for the early diagnosis of AD.

Electrode polarization at the electrolyte/electrode interface is often undesirable for bio-sensing applications, where charge accumulated over an electrode at constant potential causes large potential drop at the interface and low measurement sensitivity. In this study, novel rough electrodes were developed for decreasing electrical impedance at the interface. The electrodes were fabricated using electrochemical deposition of gold and sintering of gold nanoparticles. The performances of the gold electrodes were compared with platinum black electrodes. A constant phase element model was used to describe the interfacial impedance. Hundred folds of decrease in interfacial impedance were observed for fractal gold electrodes and platinum black. Biotoxicity, contact angle, and surface morphology of the electrodes were investigated. Relatively low toxicity and hydrophilic nature of the fractal and granulated gold electrodes make them suitable for bioimpedance and cell electromanipulation studies compared to platinum black electrodes which are both hydrophobic and toxic.

Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is a noninvasive technique for real-time measurements of the impedance spectra of biological cells. DS enables characterization of cellular dielectric properties such as membrane capacitance and cytoplasmic conductivity. We have developed a lab-on-a-chip device that uses an electro-activated microwells array for capturing, DS measurements, and unloading of biological cells. Impedance measurements were conducted at 0.2 V in the 10 kHz to 40 MHz range with 6 s time resolution. An equivalent circuit model was developed to extract the cell membrane capacitance and cell cytoplasmic conductivity from the impedance spectra. A human prostate cancer cell line, PC-3, was used to evaluate the device performance. Suspension of PC-3 cells in low conductivity buffers (LCB) enhanced their dielectrophoretic trapping and impedance response. We report the time course of the variations in dielectric properties of PC-3 cells suspended in LCB and their response to sudden pH change from a pH of 7.3 to a pH of 5.8. Importantly, we demonstrated that our device enabled real-time measurements of dielectric properties of live cancer cells and allowed the assessment of the cellular response to variations in buffer conductivity and pH. These data support further development of this device toward single cell measurements.

Electrochemical detection of metabolites is essential for early diagnosis and continuous monitoring of a variety of health conditions. This review focuses on organic electronic material-based metabolite sensors and highlights their potential to tackle critical challenges associated with metabolite detection. We provide an overview of the distinct classes of organic electronic materials and biorecognition units used in metabolite sensors, explain the different detection strategies developed to date, and identify the advantages and drawbacks of each technology. We then benchmark state-of-the-art organic electronic metabolite sensors by categorizing them based on their application area (in vitro, bodyinterfaced, in vivo, and cell-interfaced). Finally, we share our perspective on using organic bioelectronic materials for metabolite sensing and address the current challenges for the devices and progress to come. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4581 2. Metabolite Sensing in the Body at a Glance 4583 2.1. Metabolite Sensing and Signaling Mechanisms: Sensor−Transducer−Effector Model 4583 2.2. (Biological) Recognition Units 4584 3. Organic Electronic Materials in Metabolite Sensing 4588 3.1. Graphene 4588 3.2. Carbon Nanotubes 4590 3.3. Conjugated Polymers (CPs) 4590 3.4. Composite Materials 4591 4. Sensing Methods 4592 4.1. Electrodes 4593 4.1.1.

Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is a non-invasive, label-free, fast, and promising technique for measuring dielectric properties of biological cells in real time. We demonstrate a microchip that consists of electro-activated micro-well arrays for positive dielectrophoresis (pDEP) assisted cell capture, DS measurements, and negative dielectrophoresis (nDEP) driven cell unloading; thus, providing a high throughput cell analysis platform. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first microfluidic chip that combines electro-activated micro-wells and DS to analyze biological cells. Device performance is tested using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (yeast) cells. DEP response of yeast cells is determined by measuring their Clausius-Mossotti (CM) factor using biophysical models in parallel plate micro-electrode geometry. This information is used to determine the excitation frequency to load and unload wells. Effect of yeast cells on the measured impedance spectrum was examined both experimentally and numerically. Good match between the numerical and experimental results establishes the potential use of the micro-chip device for extracting sub-cellular properties of biological cells in a rapid and non-expensive manner.

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Conventional biosensors rely on the diffusion‐dominated transport of the target analyte to the sensor surface. Consequently, they require an incubation step that may take several hours to allow for the capture of analyte molecules by sensor biorecognition sites. This incubation step is a primary cause of long sample‐to‐result times. Here, alternating current electrothermal flow (ACET) is integrated in an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT)‐based sensor to accelerate the device operation. ACET is applied to the gate electrode functionalized with nanobody–SpyCatcher fusion proteins. Using the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein in human saliva as an example target, it is shown that ACET enables protein recognition within only 2 min of sample exposure, supporting its use in clinical practice. The ACET integrated sensor exhibits better selectivity, higher sensitivity, and lower limit of detection than the equivalent sensor with diffusion‐dominated operation. The performance of ACET integrated sensors is compared with two types of organic semiconductors in the channel and grounds for device‐to‐device variations are investigated. The results provide guidelines for the channel material choice in OECT‐based biochemical sensors, and demonstrate that ACET integration substantially decreases the detection speed while increasing the sensitivity and selectivity of transistor‐based sensors.