An Intelligent Graphene‐Based Biosensing Device for Cytokine Storm Syndrome Biomarkers Detection in Human Biofluids

Abstract

Abnormal elevated levels of cytokines such as interferon (IFN), interleukin (IL), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), are considered as one of the prognosis biomarkers for indicating the progression to severe or critical COVID‐19. Hence, it is of great significance to develop devices for monitoring their levels in COVID‐19 patients, and thus enabling detecting COVID‐19 patients that are worsening and to treat them before they become critically ill. Here, an intelligent aptameric dual channel graphene‐TWEEN 80 field effect transistor (DGTFET) biosensing device for on‐site detection of IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, and IL‐6 within 7 min with limits of detection (LODs) of 476 × 10−15, 608 × 10−15, or 611 × 10−15 m respectively in biofluids is presented. Using the customized Android App together with this intelligent device, asymptomatic or mild COVID‐19 patients can have a preliminary self‐detection of cytokines and get a warning reminder while the condition starts to deteriorate. Also, the device can be fabricated on flexible substrates toward wearable applications for moderate or even critical COVID‐19 cases for consistently monitoring cytokines under different deformations. Hence, the intelligent aptameric DGTFET biosensing device is promising to be used for point‐of‐care applications for monitoring conditions of COVID‐19 patients who are in different situations.

Wearable electrochemical biosensors to measure biomarkers with complex blood-to-sweat partition such as proteins and hormones

“…The further development of the above had allowed its multiplexing for cytokines storm monitoring during severe acute diseases like COVID-19 (Fig. 9h , i ) (i.e., IL-6, TNFα, IFNγ) [ 132 ]. The reported device uses the Tween 80 for passivation and a dual channel system to adjust the aptamer–cytokine binding onto the sensing unit with the background generated onto a reference unit (Fig.…”

“…Further improvement of the platform (detailed in the text) permits its multiplexing (h) for measurements in several biofluids like the sweat in 7 min (i). Reprinted with permission from [ 113 – 116 , 132 ] …”

Multifunctional carbon nanomaterials for diagnostic applications in infectious diseases and tumors

“…Hao et al developed an intelligent aptameric dual-channel graphene-Tween 80 FET (DGTFET) to detect cytokines in body fluids to monitor the health status of patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 ( Fig. 3 b) [ 85 ]. The DGTFET biosensor, consisting of a sensing channel and a reference channel, enables the sensor to effectively minimize false response signals from unwanted background interference in body fluids due to the differential measurement design between the two channels and the passivation layer formed by Tween 80 [ 86 ].…”

Micro- and nanosensors for detecting blood pathogens and biomarkers at different points of sepsis care

“…A label-free biosensor for detecting IL-6 with impedance spectroscopy has also been recently proposed for this purpose, although its performance in vivo has not been tested as of yet [ 51 ]. Recently, wearable biosensors capable of measuring several cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-6) in sweat were proposed in the context of COVID-19 care [ 101 ]. The biosensors used graphene-based field effect transistors integrated with microfluidics for sweat collection.…”