Leveraging Electrochemical Technique to Screen for Sepsis As a Point-of-Care-Device

Abstract

Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of infection which affects more than 30 million people globally [1,2]. There is a growing concern for the debilitating effects of sepsis as it is more common than heart attack and claims more life’s than cancer (world sepsis day 2015). Despite medical improvements, global disparities persist for sepsis detection and treatment. Timely diagnosis with rapid treatment methodology has been reported to improve the chances of preventing adverse complications, and thus, reduce mortality rate. Existing methodology relies on an array of blood tests performed in laboratories which is cumbersome, time-consuming, and provides delayed results. In an effort to minimize the detection time and provide clinically efficient decision making capabilities, we have developed an effective point-of-care screening device as an early stage guide for sepsis. Recent clinical studies have provided insight on the importance of detecting specific biomarkers for diagnosing sepsis. Procalcitonin (PCT) is approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a biomarker for sepsis[3]. The label-free point-of-care biosensor is designed and fabricated on a flexible hybrid electrode surface. Non-faradaic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was implemented to measure the capacitive impedance change unveiling the binding effects of target PCT to the specific capture probe. Specificity and sensitivity of the device is leveraged owing to its unique and targeted assay development strategies allowing to achieve a wide dynamic range of 0.01-100 ng/mL with a detection limit of 0.1 ng/mL. The major advantage provided by this novel technique is the use of undiluted samples without pre-treatment of human serum, plasma and whole blood with low sample volume (<40 uL). Efficient use of the developed biosensor towards practical application was correlated with clinically validated samples. The vision motivating this research was to design an effective sepsis screening device, useful at the hospital using very low patient biofluid sample and provide rapid results with high accuracy. This would allow for medical practitioners to facilitate targeted interventions, there by, offering rapid prognostic approach that can prove to be the cornerstone to provide successful treatment for sepsis and avert severe mortality and morbidity.