Nanoimprinted nanopillar array chip for procalcitonin detection (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Procalcitonin (PCT) is an early and highly specific biomarker in response to bacterial infection. The PCT-guided antibiotic therapy has demonstrated to be more efficient than standard therapy to reduce in antibiotic use without adverse outcome in mortality. The PCT detection in clinics is required to be highly sensitive with a sensitivity of 0.5 ng/ml. At present, the technologies for PCT detection are limited. This paper reported a highly sensitive nanoimprinted gold nanopillar array chip for PCT detection. To achieve high sensitivity for PCT detection, the gold nanopillar array sensing chip was designed by plasmonic simulation and fabricated by high fidelity nanoimprinting technology. The gold nanopillars of 140 nm were nanoimprinted on glass substrate. A robust sandwich bioassay of capture antibody /PCT / quantum dot (QD) conjugated detection antibody was established on the gold nanopillar array chip to detect PCT. The nanopillars serve as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) generators to enhance the fluorescent emission from QD. A limit of detection (LOD) of 0.5 ng/ml was achieved for PCT detection. This is the first time that PCT is detected with such high sensitivity by LSPR enhanced QD emission. By considering the low-cost, high sensitivity of the bioassay, as well as the inexpensive mass fabrication of the high quality chips, this novel nanoimprinted gold nanopillar array chip is particularly useful for developing a point-of-care system for PCT detection.