Tungsten oxide thin film field-effect transistor based real-time sensing system for non-invasive oral cancer biomarker detection

Abstract

We have presented real-time and label-free CYFRA 21–1 detection in artificial saliva using a tungsten oxide (WO3) thin film transistor with wafer scale batch fabrication. In this work, we developed a miniaturized (FET) biosensing platform based on antibody-antigen interaction at the channel surface for real-time CYFRA 21–1 detection in artificial saliva. The fabricated FET device showed rapid and high response towards the CYFRA 21–1 antigen in artificial saliva, with the highest response of 122.88 at 1 pg/mL and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.26 pg/mL. This device demonstrated the detection capability of different CYFRA 21–1 concentrations in artificial saliva with high specificity towards the targeted antigen to detect oral cancer biomarker and a response in real-time. Unlike other methods for oral cancer detection, this study demonstrates an innovative biosensing device platform for directly detecting oral cancer biomarkers in saliva without labeling or pre-processing the sample. This method shows the highest sensitivity with a minimum sample volume requirement (2 µL) for early-stage oral cancer diagnosis. Moreover, this work showed the prospect of batch fabrication and uniformity among batch-fabricated devices.