Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensor and Bioelectronic Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 19153

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Department of Analytical and Physical Chemistry, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
Interests: extracellular vesicles; enrichment; ultracentrifugation; nanoparticle tracking analysis; lateral flow immunoassay
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to introduce this Special Issue focused on biosensors for the analysis of different body fluids.

Biosensors are becoming an important avenue of biomedical research. From a simple thermometer, aimed to detect changes in body temperature, to the development of the first glucometer in 1962, these fascinating devices have gradually been incorporated into clinical practice.

Biosensors are generally small, fast, selective, sensitive, and easy-to-use devices. Their use may speed up test results, allowing early clinical decisions to be taken and benefit the patient. A person’s health status can be continuously monitored (e.g., blood oxygen monitors). Other biosensors are so common that they are used at home, such as the pregnancy test or the aforementioned glucometer.

In places where health facilities are not easily accessible, the introduction of rapid tests becomes even more relevant. Simple tests to detect infectious diseases such as HIV or HVC can make a great difference. In addition, coupling new technologies to biosensors would make health tests more affordable and portable.

In this Special Issue, we aim to gather the most recent research in the field of biosensors that may directly be applied to biofluids (saliva, urine, synovial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.) without sample pretreatment.

Dr. Esther Serrano-Pertierra
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biosensors
  • body fluids
  • point of care
  • saliva
  • cerebrospinal fluid
  • plasma
  • serum
  • urine
  • synovial fluid

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2162 KiB  
Article
Highly Sensitive and Specific SARS-CoV-2 Serological Assay Using a Magnetic Modulation Biosensing System
by Shira Avivi-Mintz, Yaniv Lustig, Victoria Indenbaum, Eli Schwartz and Amos Danielli
Biosensors 2022, 12(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12010007 - 23 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3678
Abstract
Sensitive serological assays are needed to provide valuable information about acute and past viral infections. For example, detection of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG antibodies could serve as the basis for an “immunity passport” that would enable individuals to travel [...] Read more.
Sensitive serological assays are needed to provide valuable information about acute and past viral infections. For example, detection of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG antibodies could serve as the basis for an “immunity passport” that would enable individuals to travel internationally. Here, utilizing a novel Magnetic Modulation Biosensing (MMB) system and the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, we demonstrate a highly sensitive and specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG serological assay. Using anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2-positive and healthy patients’ samples, and vaccinees’ samples, we compare the MMB-based SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay’s analytical and clinical sensitivities to those of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Compared with ELISA, the MMB-based assay has an ~6-fold lower limit of detection (129 ng/L vs. 817 ng/L), and it detects an increase in the IgG concentration much earlier after vaccination. Using 85 RT-qPCR SARS-CoV-2-positive samples and 79 -negative samples, the MMB-based assay demonstrated similar clinical specificity (98% vs. 99%) and sensitivity (93% vs. 92%) to the ELISA test, but with a much faster turnaround time (45 min vs. 245 min). The high analytical and clinical sensitivity, short turnaround time, and simplicity of the MMB-based assay makes it a preferred method for antibody detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis)
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12 pages, 2618 KiB  
Article
Label-free Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) on Centrifugal Silver Plasmonic Paper (CSPP): A Novel Methodology for Unprocessed Biofluids Sampling and Analysis
by Alessandro Esposito, Alois Bonifacio, Valter Sergo and Stefano Fornasaro
Biosensors 2021, 11(11), 467; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11110467 - 21 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2902
Abstract
Label-free SERS is a powerful bio-analytical technique in which molecular fingerprinting is combined with localized surface plasmons (LSPs) on metal surfaces to achieve high sensitivity. Silver and gold colloids are among the most common nanostructured substrates used in SERS, but since protein-rich samples [...] Read more.
Label-free SERS is a powerful bio-analytical technique in which molecular fingerprinting is combined with localized surface plasmons (LSPs) on metal surfaces to achieve high sensitivity. Silver and gold colloids are among the most common nanostructured substrates used in SERS, but since protein-rich samples such as serum or plasma can hinder the SERS effect due to protein–substrate interactions, they often require a deproteinization step. Moreover, SERS methods based on metal colloids often suffer from a poor reproducibility. Here, we propose a paper-based SERS sampling method in which unprocessed human serum samples are first soaked on paper strips (0.4 × 2 cm2), and then mixed with colloidal silver nanoparticles by centrifugation to obtain a Centrifugal Silver Plasmonic Paper (CSPP). The CSPP methodology has the potential to become a promising tool in bioanalytical SERS applications: it uses common colloidal substrates but without the need for sample deproteinization, while having a good reproducibility both in terms of overall spectral shape (r > 0.96) and absolute intensity (RSD < 10%). Moreover, this methodology allows SERS analysis more than one month after serum collection on the paper strip, facilitating storage and handling of clinical samples (including shipping from clinical sites to labs). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis)
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11 pages, 1826 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Haematocrit on Measurement of the Mid-Infrared Refractive Index of Plasma in Whole Blood
by David J. Rowe, Daniel R. Owens, Suzanne L. Parker, Saul N. Faust, James S. Wilkinson and Goran Z. Mashanovich
Biosensors 2021, 11(11), 417; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11110417 - 25 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2764
Abstract
Recent advances suggest that miniaturised mid-infrared (MIR) devices could replace more time-consuming, laboratory-based techniques for clinical diagnostics. This work uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to show that the MIR complex refractive index of whole blood varies across a range of haematocrit. This indicates [...] Read more.
Recent advances suggest that miniaturised mid-infrared (MIR) devices could replace more time-consuming, laboratory-based techniques for clinical diagnostics. This work uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to show that the MIR complex refractive index of whole blood varies across a range of haematocrit. This indicates that the use of an evanescent measurement is not sufficient to optically exclude the cellular content of blood in the MIR, as previously assumed. Here, spectral refractive index data is presented in two ways. First, it is given as whole blood with varying haematocrit. Second, it is given as the percentage error that haematocrit introduces to plasma. The maximum error in the effective plasma refractive index due to the haematocrit of healthy adults was 0.25% for the real part n and 11% for the imaginary part k. This implies that calibration measurements of haematocrit can be used to account for errors introduced by the cellular content, enabling plasma spectra and analyte concentrations to be indirectly calculated from a whole blood sample. This methodological advance is of clinical importance as plasma concentration of analytes such as drugs can be determined using MIR without the preprocessing of whole blood. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis)
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12 pages, 1517 KiB  
Article
Alginate Bead Biosystem for the Determination of Lactate in Sweat Using Image Analysis
by Sandra Garcia-Rey, Edilberto Ojeda, Udara Bimendra Gunatilake, Lourdes Basabe-Desmonts and Fernando Benito-Lopez
Biosensors 2021, 11(10), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11100379 - 9 Oct 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3213
Abstract
Lactate is present in sweat at high concentrations, being a metabolite of high interest in sport science and medicine. Therefore, the potential to determine lactate concentrations in physiological fluids, at the point of need with minimal invasiveness, is very valuable. In this work, [...] Read more.
Lactate is present in sweat at high concentrations, being a metabolite of high interest in sport science and medicine. Therefore, the potential to determine lactate concentrations in physiological fluids, at the point of need with minimal invasiveness, is very valuable. In this work, the synthesis and performance of an alginate bead biosystem was investigated. Artificial sweat with different lactate concentrations was used as a proof of concept. The lactate detection was based on a colorimetric assay and an image analysis method using lactate oxidase, horseradish peroxidase and tetramethyl benzidine as the reaction mix. Lactate in artificial sweat was detected with a R² = 0.9907 in a linear range from 10 mM to 100 mM, with a limit of detection of 6.4 mM and a limit of quantification of 21.2 mM. Real sweat samples were used as a proof of concept to test the performance of the biosystem, obtaining a lactate concentration of 48 ± 3 mM. This novel sensing configuration, using alginate beads, gives a fast and reliable method for lactate sensing, which could be integrated into more complex analytical systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis)
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10 pages, 2582 KiB  
Article
A CRISPR/Cas12a Based Universal Lateral Flow Biosensor for the Sensitive and Specific Detection of African Swine-Fever Viruses in Whole Blood
by Jinghua Wu, Omar Mukama, Wei Wu, Zhiyuan Li, Jean De Dieu Habimana, Yinghui Zhang, Rong Zeng, Chengrong Nie and Lingwen Zeng
Biosensors 2020, 10(12), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios10120203 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5319
Abstract
Cross-border pathogens such as the African swine fever virus (ASFV) still pose a socio-economic threat. Cheaper, faster, and accurate diagnostics are imperative for healthcare and food safety applications. Currently, the discovery of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has paved the [...] Read more.
Cross-border pathogens such as the African swine fever virus (ASFV) still pose a socio-economic threat. Cheaper, faster, and accurate diagnostics are imperative for healthcare and food safety applications. Currently, the discovery of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has paved the way for the diagnostics based on Cas13 and Cas12/14 that exhibit collateral cleavage of target and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) reporter. The reporter is fluorescently labeled to report the presence of a target. These methods are powerful; however, fluorescence-based approaches require expensive apparatuses, complicate results readout, and exhibit high-fluorescence background. Here, we present a new CRISPR–Cas-based approach that combines polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, Cas12a, and a probe-based lateral flow biosensor (LFB) for the simultaneous detection of seven types of ASFV. In the presence of ASFVs, the LFB responded to reporter trans-cleavage by naked eyes and achieved a sensitivity of 2.5 × 10−15 M within 2 h, and unambiguously identified ASFV from swine blood. This system uses less time for PCR pre-amplification and requires cheaper devices; thus, it can be applied to virus monitoring and food samples detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosensors for Body Fluid Analysis)
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