Point-of-care testing of methylamphetamine with a portable optical fiber immunosensor

Abstract

Owing to the increasing worldwide abuse of methamphetamine (MA), which may induce severe public health and social problems, rapid and sensitive method is highly in demand for forensic point-of-care testing (POCT) of MA. Herein we report a portable chemiluminescent fiber-based immunosensor (PCFS) for highly sensitive quantitative and specifically immune recognition of MA in biological sources. The PCFS combines the optical fiber sensor with competitive enzyme-linked immunoassay and biotin-streptavidin-mediated peroxidase nanocomposite for signal amplification. Equipped with a portable battery-powered photon counting detector, the PCFS is suitable for rapid and cost-effective POCT of MA with a wide linear range of 1.5–300 ng/mL and a low detection limit of 0.5 ng/mL. The method is successfully applied for determination of MA in various biological sources (human blood, urine and oral fluid) with analytical time of 10 min. The practicability and accuracy of the PCFS fulfill the requirements of forensic identification and clinical diagnosis. With the advantages of easy operation, rapid analysis, sensitive and selective detection, the proposed PCFS offers a reliable and convenient method for POCT of drug abuse in different biological sources.