Sun Rujing, Li Xin, Jiang Min, Cao Yelongzi, Yang Yaqian, Wen Hao, Shi Zhenghan, Dai Chaobo, Liang Hao, Liu Qingjun
Guangxi Key Laboratory of AIDS Prevention and Treatment, School of Public Health, Biosafety III Laboratory, Life Science Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi, China.
Biosensor National Special Laboratory, Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Education Ministry, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
ACS Sens. 2025 Jul 25;10(7):4928-4937. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.5c00569. Epub 2025 Jul 7.
Seasonal outbreaks of respiratory infections place a significant burden on hospital-centered diagnostic and treatment systems. Co-infections involving both bacterial and viral pathogens further complicate infection assessment, highlighting the need for rapid and accurate diagnostic tools. In this work, we present a ready-to-use, portable resonant sensing system capable of rapidly and quantitatively detecting key coinfection biomarkers in saliva, specifically C-reactive protein (CRP) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion protein. The sensor operates via competitive immune binding within a hydrogel-based resonant structure, where biomarker binding induces shifts in resonant frequency that are wirelessly detected. To preserve antibody activity and hydrogel mechanical integrity, we developed an integrated, ready-to-use sensor system optimized for ultrasensitive detection. This platform enables analysis of unprocessed saliva samples within 5 min, achieving low limits of detection of 24 fg/mL for CRP and 31 fg/mL for RSV fusion protein. Quantitative analysis of patient samples demonstrated strong concordance with both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results. This portable sensing platform offers a promising solution for point-of-care coinfection diagnostics, supporting real-time infection monitoring and potentially easing the burden on healthcare systems.
季节性呼吸道感染疫情给以医院为中心的诊断和治疗系统带来了沉重负担。细菌和病毒病原体的合并感染进一步使感染评估复杂化，凸显了对快速准确诊断工具的需求。在这项工作中，我们展示了一种即用型便携式共振传感系统，能够快速定量检测唾液中的关键合并感染生物标志物，特别是C反应蛋白（CRP）和呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）融合蛋白。该传感器通过基于水凝胶的共振结构内的竞争性免疫结合来运行，生物标志物结合会引起共振频率的变化，可通过无线方式进行检测。为了保持抗体活性和水凝胶的机械完整性，我们开发了一种经过优化的集成即用型传感器系统，用于超灵敏检测。该平台能够在5分钟内对未处理的唾液样本进行分析，对CRP的检测下限低至24 fg/mL，对RSV融合蛋白的检测下限低至31 fg/mL。对患者样本的定量分析显示，与酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）和聚合酶链反应（PCR）结果高度一致。这种便携式传感平台为即时护理合并感染诊断提供了一个有前景的解决方案，支持实时感染监测，并有可能减轻医疗系统的负担。
