Interfacial Potential Transduction for Diagnostics

TL;DR

This paper introduces interfacial potential transduction as a new, standardized electrical signal modality for portable diagnostics, demonstrating high accuracy across various clinical assays and overcoming limitations of existing optical and electrochemical methods.

Contribution

It defines a mechanistic framework for interfacial potential transduction, enabling reliable, matrix-interference-resistant diagnostics across diverse assay formats.

Findings

Quantitative detection of hormones in plasma with high correlation to clinical analyzers

Sensitive detection of HIV p24 protein with low limit of detection

Rapid hepatitis B virus detection within 5 minutes

Abstract

A major barrier to decentralized, near-patient diagnostics is the lack of a signal transduction modality that is both analytically precise and accessible at the point of care. Optical readouts remain instrument-dependent and difficult to miniaturize, while compact electrochemical readouts are prone to matrix-derived signal distortion, limiting their biomarker coverage in real clinical settings. Here, we define interfacial potential transduction as a standardized electrical modality for portable, clinical-grade diagnostics across diverse assay formats. A mechanistic framework identifying key sample matrix parameters within the interfacial potentials transduction system enables control of biofluid-derived interference, and is demonstrated in a widely accessible lateral flow immunoassay format through quantitative detection of estradiol, progesterone, and luteinizing hormone in human plasma with high correlation (r2 > 0.97) to clinical analyzers. Broader applicability across representative diagnostic sectors is further demonstrated through exceptional performance including glucose quantification for biochemical analysis with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.92 ug/dL, HIV p24 capsid protein under an immunomagnetic separation workflow (LOD = 44.8 fg/mL), and hepatitis B virus detection within 5 min via loop-mediated isothermal amplification for molecular diagnostics. Together, these results establish interfacial potentials transduction as a unified diagnostic paradigm for near-patient deployment beyond optical and electrochemical approaches.