Page 52 - Plastics News May 2023

Plastic Transistor Amplifies Sensing Signal for Biosensors

nology, they set out to validate its ef-
ficacy. They did this by turning their
attention to cytokine, a type of sign-
aling protein that regulates immune
response and is implicated in tissue
repair and regeneration. Certain cy-
tokines near a wound can be used to
assess how quickly it's healing, or if
there is a new infection that may re-
quire more medical interventions, the
researchers said.
In a series of experiments, Rivnay
and his team managed to amplify the
Researchers could use the technology to create stronger biosensors cytokines’ signal by three-to-four or-
that can read signals within the body to help collect more accurate ders of magnitude compared with
diagnostic and treatment data. traditional electrode-based aptamer
sensing methods, they reported in a
esearchers have developed a new Solving the Problem paper on their research in the journal
Rtechnology that can help accu- The researchers developed a novel Nature Communications.
rately measure data from faint elec- transistor made of plastic to solve Moreover, while the technology per-
trical signals within the human body this problem. They placed an ampli- formed well in experiments to sense
to provide diagnostic information for fying component onto a traditional cytokine signaling, it also should be
improved healthcare and disease re- electrode-based sensor and used this able to amplify signals from any mol-
sponse, they said. A team from North- architecture to develop an electro- ecule or chemical, expanding its po-
western University has developed a chemical transistor-based sensor that tentials for use, Rivnay said. The tech-
novel transistor that can be used to can sense and amplify the weak bio- nology could be used to sense signals
enhance biocompatible biosensors to chemical signal, they said. from antibodies, hormones, drugs, or
monitor biochemical signals, which The electrode of the device senses any detection scheme that uses elec-
can be weak but provide critical infor- the signal, while the transistor ampli- trochemical reporters, he said.
mation to clinicians, they said. fies it for enhanced communication. “This approach is broadly applicable
While current biochemical sensors The device also has a built-in, thin-film and doesn’t have a specific use case,”
can monitor vital corporal informa- reference electrode to make the am- Rivnay said. “The big vision is to im-
tion, they often produce weak signals plified signals more stable and reliable, plement our concept into implantable
that require the collection of other vi- the researchers said. biosensors or wearable devices that
tal data—such as from a blood, sweat, “We combine the power of the tran- can both sense a problem and then
or saliva sample—as well as advanced sistor for local amplification with the respond it.”
and expensive lab technology for clini- referencing you get from well-estab-
cians to decipher them. lished electrochemical methods," said
However, if physicians and other clini- Xudong Ji, a post-doctoral researcher
cians could reliably measure biochem- in Rivnay’s laboratory. “It’s the best
ical signals in the body with ease, they of both worlds because we’re able to
could create sensors into small-foot- stably measure the aptamer binding
print devices for more accurate di- and amplify it on site.”
agnoses without sophisticated equip- Testing the Biosensors
ment.
Once the team developed the tech-

52 PLASTICS NEWS May 2023