A point-of-care, microfluidics-based approach for multiplexed detection of biomarkers in unprocessed blood using a surface plasmon resonance sensor

总部位于蒙特雷亚尔的初创公司AffinitéInstruments正在开发一种低成本的护理点(POC)设备，可以使用全血样本快速检测新冠肺炎抗体。由于抗体与新型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒(SARS-COV-2)感染免疫之间的关系尚不清楚，抗体检测可用于评估既往接触病原体的情况。 在拟议的项目中，抗体的检测将使用集成了微流控样品制备平台的表面等离子体共振(SPR)设备进行。SPR装置是生物传感应用、抗体表征和药物发现与开发的关键生物分析手段。SPR传感器与抗人免疫球蛋白(Ig G、Ig M和Ig A)抗体功能化，可用于检测纳分子范围内的抗SARS-CoV-2抗体。为了开发用于临床检测新冠肺炎抗体的下一代微流控产品，需要设计一个定制的微流控平台，将血浆和全血分离，从而实现直接血液检测。在这个项目中，AffinitéInstruments与滑铁卢大学的Poudineh Group(生物医学应用的微流控器件设计和制造专家)合作开发了一种定制设计的微流控平台，该平台可以与SPR传感器集成。利用血浆分离膜，无泵微流控过滤装置可以在不到10分钟的时间内分离血浆。收集的血浆将直接送到SPR，由SPR测定血液中新冠肺炎抗体的水平。建议的POC设备将在不到10分钟的时间内对全血进行快速诊断，并将比任何现有的检测技术更准确。这项新的检测技术将限制病毒的传播，这项研究的成功将对加拿大和全球经济复苏产生潜在影响。

Affinité Instruments, a Montréal-based start-up, is developing a low-cost, point-of-care (POC) device for rapid detection of COVID-19 antibodies using whole blood sample. As the relationship between antibodies and immunity to infection with the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) is still unknown, detection of antibodies can be used to assess previous exposure to pathogens. In the proposed project, the detection of antibodies will be performed by using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) device integrated with a microfluidic sample preparation platform. The SPR device is a key bioanalytical method in biosensing application, antibody characterization, and drug discovery and development. SPR sensor that is functionalized with anti-human immunoglobin (IgG, IgM, and IgA) antibodies can be used to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the nanomolar range. To develop a next-generation SPR product for clinical testing of COVID-19 antibodies, there is a need to design a customized microfluidic platform to separate plasma from whole blood to enable direct blood testing. In this project, Affinité Instruments teams up with Poudineh group (expert in microfluidic device design and fabrication for biomedical application) at the University of Waterloo to develop a custom designed microfluidic platform that can be integrated with SPR sensor. Using a plasma separation membrane, the pump-free microfluidic filtration device will separate plasma in less than 10 min. The collected plasma will be directly sent to SPR which will determine the levels of COVID-19 antibodies in the blood. The proposed POC device will offer a rapid diagnosis in less than 10 min from whole blood and will be more accurate than any existing testing technologies. This novel detection technology will limit the spread of virus and the success of this study will have potential impact in recovering Canadian and global economies.