Abstract
A magnetic immunoassay technique utilizing magnetoresistive sensor and Brownian relaxation of magnetic markers was developed for use in the liquid-phase detection of biological targets. The magnetic field noise spectrum of a detection system was 25 pT/Hz <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1/2</sup> at the measurement frequency, and the peak-to-peak field noise was about 35 pT when 72 measurements were averaged. We detected 10 ng of markers, and the minimum detectable number of the markers was estimated to be N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</sub> = 5.6 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> . We demonstrated the detection of biological targets called biotins. In the experiment, biotins were conjugated on the surface of the polystyrene beads with a diameter of 3.3 μm. Streptavidin-coated magnetic markers were bound to the biotins. The bound and unbound (free) markers were magnetically distinguished by the Brownian relaxation of the free markers without using a washing process for maker separation. A clear correlation was obtained between the detected signal and the number (N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> ) of biotins. The minimum detectable number of biotins was as low as N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B</sub> = 6.2 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> . Since the sample volume was 60 μl, this value corresponds to a molecular number concentration of 1.7 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-17</sup> mol/ml. This result indicated the high sensitivity of the method used.
Published Version
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