Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Biosensors (Basel). 2024 Oct 7;14(10):482. doi: 10.3390/bios14100482.
The autofluorescence of erythrocyte porphyrins has emerged as a potential method for multi-cancer early detection (MCED). With this method's dependence on research-grade spectrofluorometers, significant improvements in instrumentation are necessary to translate its potential into clinical practice, as with any promising medical technology. To fill this gap, in this paper, we present an automated ratio porphyrin analyzer for cancer screening (ARPA-CS), a low-cost, portable, and automated instrument for MCED via the ratio fluorometry of porphyrins. The ARPA-CS aims to facilitate cancer screening in an inexpensive, rapid, non-invasive, and reasonably accurate manner for use in primary clinics or at point of care. To accomplish this, the ARPA-CS uses an ultraviolet-excited optical apparatus for ratio fluorometry that features two photodetectors for detection at 590 and 630 nm. Additionally, it incorporates a synchronous detector for the precision measurement of signals based on the Walsh-ordered Walsh-Hadamard transform (WHT) and circular shift. To estimate its single-photodetector capability, we established a linear calibration curve for the ARBA-CS exceeding four orders of magnitude with a linearity of up to 0.992 and a low detection limit of 0.296 µg/mL for riboflavin. The ARPA-CS also exhibited excellent repeatability (0.21%) and stability (0.60%). Moreover, the ratio fluorometry of three serially diluted standard solutions of riboflavin yielded a ratio of 0.4, which agrees with that expected based on the known emission spectra of riboflavin. Additionally, the ratio fluorometry of the porphyrin solution yielded a ratio of 49.82, which was ascribed to the predominant concentration of protoporphyrin IX in the brown eggshells, as confirmed in several studies. This study validates this instrument for the ratio fluorometry of porphyrins as a biomarker for MCED. Nevertheless, large and well-designed clinical trials are necessary to further elaborate more on this matter.
红细胞卟啉的自发荧光已成为多癌种早期检测（MCED）的一种潜在方法。由于该方法依赖于研究级光谱荧光计，因此需要对仪器进行重大改进，才能将其潜力转化为临床实践，任何有前途的医疗技术都是如此。为了填补这一空白，在本文中，我们提出了一种用于癌症筛查的自动比卟啉分析仪（ARPA-CS），这是一种低成本、便携式和自动化的仪器，用于通过卟啉的比率荧光法进行 MCED。ARPA-CS 的目的是以廉价、快速、非侵入性和合理准确的方式促进初级诊所或护理点的癌症筛查。为了实现这一目标，ARPA-CS 使用了一种用于比率荧光法的紫外激发光学仪器，该仪器具有两个用于在 590 和 630nm 处检测的光电探测器。此外，它还结合了一个同步检测器，用于根据沃尔什有序沃尔什-哈达玛变换（WHT）和圆形移位进行信号的精密测量。为了估计其单光电探测器的能力，我们建立了一个 ARBA-CS 的线性校准曲线，该曲线在四个数量级以上，线性度高达 0.992，检测限低至 0.296µg/mL 用于核黄素。ARPA-CS 还表现出出色的重复性（0.21%）和稳定性（0.60%）。此外，三种连续稀释的核黄素标准溶液的比率荧光法得到的比率为 0.4，这与核黄素已知发射光谱所预期的比率一致。此外，卟啉溶液的比率荧光法得到的比率为 49.82，这归因于棕色蛋壳中甲酰原卟啉 IX 的主要浓度，这在几项研究中得到了证实。这项研究验证了该仪器用于 MCED 的卟啉比率荧光法作为生物标志物的有效性。然而，需要进行大型和精心设计的临床试验，以进一步详细阐述这一问题。
