Author(s):
Oliveira, Maria João ; Caetano, Soraia ; Dalot, Ana ; Sabino, Filipe ; Calmeiro, Tomás R. ; Fortunato, Elvira ; Martins, Rodrigo ; Pereira, Eulália ; Prudêncio, Miguel ; Byrne, Hugh J. ; Franco, Ricardo ; Águas, Hugo
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/159670
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Project/scholarship:
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0037%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F50025%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F50025%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F04378%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04378%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0140%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F50006%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F50006%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso para Financiamento de Projetos de Investigação Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico em Todos os Domínios Científicos - 2017/PTDC%2FNAN-MAT%2F30589%2F2017/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT//SFRH%2FBD%2F132057%2F2017/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/716510/EU;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/640598/EU;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/685758/EU;
Subject(s): Analytical Chemistry; Biochemistry; Environmental Chemistry; Spectroscopy; Electrochemistry; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Description
M. P. acknowledges “la Caixa” Foundation for Grant HR21-848. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Early and accurate detection of infection by pathogenic microorganisms, such as Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is critical for clinical diagnosis and ultimately determines the patient's outcome. We have combined a polystyrene-based microfluidic device with an immunoassay which utilises Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to detect malaria. The method can be easily translated to a point-of-care testing format and shows excellent sensitivity and specificity, when compared to the gold standard for laboratorial detection of Plasmodium infections. The device can be fabricated in less than 30 min by direct patterning on shrinkable polystyrene sheets of adaptable three-dimensional microfluidic chips. To validate the microfluidic system, samples of P. falciparum-infected red blood cell cultures were used. The SERS-based immunoassay enabled the detection of 0.0012 ± 0.0001% parasitaemia in a P. falciparum-infected red blood cell culture supernatant, an ∼7-fold higher sensitivity than that attained by most rapid diagnostic tests. Our approach successfully overcomes the main challenges of the current Plasmodium detection methods, including increased reproducibility, sensitivity, and specificity. Furthermore, our system can be easily adapted for detection of other pathogens and has excellent properties for early diagnosis of infectious diseases, a decisive step towards lowering their high burden on healthcare systems worldwide.
