Sensitivity Comparison of Macro- and Micro-Electrochemical Biosensors for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) Biomarker Detection

Abstract

Selectivity and sensitivity are important figures of merit in the design and optimization of electrochemical biosensors. The efficiency of the fabricated immunosensing surface can easily be influenced by several factors, such as detection limit, non-specific binding, and type of sensing platform. Here, we demonstrate the effect of macro-and micro-sized planner working electrodes (4 mm and 400 µm diameter, respectively) on the electrochemical behavior and the performance of the developed biosensor to detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), please say why hCG here briefly. The fabricated screen-printed sensor was constructed by modifying the carbon macro-and micro-electrodes with a linker, 1-pyrenebutyric acid-Nhydroxysuccinimide ester (PANHS) and immobilization of anti-hCG antibodies to detect specifically the hCG protein. The characterization of the developed electrodes was performed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). Each immunesensing system has its unique electrochemical behavior which might be attributed to arrangement of particles on the surface. However, the smaller surface area of the micro-electrode is found to show higher sensitivity (1 pg/mL) compared to the macro-electrode sensor with a lower detection limit of 100 pg/mL. The proposed assay represents a promising approach that is highly effective for specific detection of an analyte and can be exploited to target biomarkers for a variety of point-of-care diagnostic applications.

Management and Prevention Strategies for Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Their Risk Factors

“…Focusing research on food biotechnology and agriculture has a direct influence on NCDs risk (7,104). The development of diagnostic tools allows for the rapid detection of NCDs biomarkers with high sensitivity to help detect diseases at their early stages, which subsequently contributes to easier treatment and fast cures (105)(106)(107). However, in order to reach the highest attainable standard of health, it is important to encourage individuals and families to follow a healthy lifestyle in order to get an effective response for prevention and the control of NCDs and to improve health outcomes (100,108).…”

Printed Electrochemical Biosensors: Opportunities and Metrological Challenges

“…Thus, the early stage protein in particular might be found in blood or in other fluids in concentrations < pg/mL, which are hardly detectable with standard protein analysis [198]. Nowadays, novel printed biosensors have reached LODs of several orders of magnitude lower than the µM range of bulk electrodes, relying on the combination of highly organized novel nanostructures [69,199], magnetic immobilization [200], miniaturized geometries [198], optimized designs to enhance electrochemical parameters and flow control [201,202]. When aiming for large scale and low-cost diagnostic screening, the opportunity for the integration of printed electrochemical sensors with 3D printed modular point-of-care or lab-on-a-chip structures represent a winning strategy [203] with respect to bulky and more expensive optical and mechanical biosensors [133,204].…”

Recent Advances in Electrochemical Sensors for the Detection of Biomolecules and Whole Cells

“…Damiati et al (2019) developed a screen-printed sensor based on the modified carbon macro- and micro-electrodes with a linker, 1-pyrenebutyric acid-N-hydroxy-succinimide ester (PANHS), and the immobilization of anti-hCG antibodies to detect hCG [ 82 ]. CV was conducted to characterize the modified electrode by increasing the scan rate from 10 to 100 mV/s.…”