I-Corps: Plasmonic Optoelectronic Immunosensing

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide a clinical and bedside-based biosensing system that allows precise detection of biomarkers associated with acute coronary syndrome in whole blood samples. The envisioned system can potentially provide such detection for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) with short turnaround time, without hospitalization, and without the use of expensive equipment.

ACSs are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 31% of all global deaths. This platform can potentially perform a test and guide immediate treatment in an ambulance or in a remote location with limited resources. The platform is anticipated to have a wide range of secondary applications for the different identifiable indications and biomarkers.

This I-Corps project aims to provide a clinical and bedside biosensing system to allow an easy, rapid, cost-effective, and precise detection of biomarkers associated with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in whole blood. The diagnosis occurs via a smart, portable, hand-held point of care system. The core technical innovation is an integrated system with a nanoplasmonics-based, label-free, antigen-antibody binding assay and an ultrasensitive, ultralow-noise photo signal detector with a two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) photoconductive channel.

This integration of a self-contained optoelectronic biosensor module enables a point of care system that results in highly sensitive detection without the need for sample preparation. The project has the potential to address time and resource-intensive diagnostics in the treatment of clinical cardiac arrest disease.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.