MicroSensors for Cardiac Markers
A recently funded project in partnership with the Adelaide and Meath Hospital Tallaght will apply the thin film microsensor devices (above) towards point-of-care sensors (small, portable devices with small sample volume requirements) by using immobilised antibodies (specific for certain markers in the blood which are raised during or after a cardiac infarction) bound to gold nanoparticles. This is of great importance and can be used in conjunction with clinical assessment and electrocardiography in making a diagnosis. There is an increasing need for clinical laboratories to reduce the turnaround time (TAT) for cardiac marker results. The emergence of point-of-care tests offers an attractive alternative due to their portability and shorter assay times. Electrochemical biosensors have played an important role in the development of point-of-care diagnostic devices, allowing rapid delivery of diagnostic information using hand-held analysers. Immunosensors are miniaturized measuring devices which detect their targets by antibody-antigen binding and generate concentration dependent signals. Here we propose to immobilize monoclonal antibodies specific for the cardiac markers troponin I and T and creatine kinase MB onto an electrochemical device by attachment to a gold nanoparticles using self assembled monolayers.
