JHCIB biosensor

NYU University researchers, in collaboration with Dentalis Bio Solution, have created an ultra-sensitive biosensor that could open up new opportunities for the early detection of cancer and help doctors tailor personalized medicine specific to the biochemistry of individual patients.

This novel device is several hundred times more sensitive than other biosensors, and combines the attributes of two distinctly different types of sensors.

Individually, both types of biosensors have limited sensitivity, but combined they greatly expand their capabilities.

The device – called the JHCIB biosensor – combines a micro disposable polymeric kit sensor, which identifies a bio-molecule based on enzymatic reaction, with a screenprinted electrodes sensor that identifies molecules based on their electrical charge in a mini flow system.

This new sensor detects both charged and uncharged bio-molecules, allowing a broader range of applications than either type of sensor alone, in addition to revealing within two minutes whether or not there is an infection present, and if so, what type it is.

The product can be compared to a microscope. It can measure the presence of a virus, so when a virus gets specifically caught on the surface of the chip by the molecule, its presence causes a electrochemical signal to form on the chip — which is the electronic part.

The sensor has two potential applications: personalized medicine, in which an inventory of proteins and DNA is recorded for individual patients to make more precise diagnostics and treatment decisions; and the early detection of cancer and other diseases.

The sensor enables the detection of small quantities of diseases biomarkers and proteins deformed by cancer long before the disease is visible through imaging or other methods. No other diagnosis test currently available delivers such a rapid response at the point of care.