Issue 19, 2022

Portable electroanalytical nucleic acid amplification tests using printed circuit boards and open-source electronics

Abstract

The realization of electrochemical nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) at the point of care (POC) is highly desirable, but it remains a challenge given their high cost and lack of true portability/miniaturization. Here we show that mass-produced, industrial standardized, printed circuit boards (PCBs) can be repurposed to act as near-zero cost electrodes for self-assembled monolayer-based DNA biosensing, and further integration with a custom-designed and low-cost portable potentiostat. To show the analytical capability of this system, we developed a NAAT using isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification, bypassing the need of thermal cyclers, followed by an electrochemical readout relying on a sandwich hybridization assay. We used our sensor and device for analytical detection of the toxic microalgae Ostreopsis cf. ovata as a proof of concept. This work shows the potential of PCBs and open-source electronics to be used as powerful POC DNA biosensors at a low-cost.

Graphical abstract: Portable electroanalytical nucleic acid amplification tests using printed circuit boards and open-source electronics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 jun. 2022
Accepted
10 ago. 2022
First published
15 ago. 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Analyst, 2022,147, 4249-4256

Portable electroanalytical nucleic acid amplification tests using printed circuit boards and open-source electronics

A. Toldrà, A. Ainla, S. Khaliliazar, R. Landin, G. Chondrogiannis, M. Hanze, P. Réu and M. M. Hamedi, Analyst, 2022, 147, 4249 DOI: 10.1039/D2AN00923D

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