Point-of-care ultrahigh sensitivity magnetic lateral flow assay*

Today, many highly quantitative biomarker detection tools for medical diagnostics are readily available in state-of-the-art centralized clinical laboratories. However, there remains a critical need for inexpensive, versatile, and high-sensitivity diagnostic platforms which can bring the performance to the point of care (POC) or doctor’s office. Our team has developed an ultrasensitive point of care biosensor based on the miniaturized inductive detector of magnetic reporter nanoparticles (10¹⁰ emu detection limit) in a test line of a lateral flow assay (like a pregnancy test). This technology represents a new general biosensor platform that can be broadly useful in various areas of molecular diagnostics, therapy monitoring, biomarker detection, and biomedical research. The biosensor prototype performance was evaluated using a standard hCG model system with well established LFA immunochemistry based on readily available, well-characterized, and inexpensive antibodies. The first target after proof of concept is to make a biosensing platform for detecting the recurrence of prostate cancer.