Bloch surface wave enhanced biosensor for the direct detection of angiopoietin-2 tumor biomarker in human plasma

Quantitative detection of angiogenic biomarkers provides a powerful tool to diagnose cancers in early stages and to follow its progression during therapy. Conventional tests require trained personnel, dedicated laboratory equipment and are generally time-consuming. Herein, we propose our developed biosensing platform as a useful tool for a rapid determination of Angiopoietin-2 biomarker directly from patient plasma within 30 minutes, without any sample preparation or dilution. Bloch surface waves supported by one dimensional photonic crystal are exploited to enhance and redirect the fluorescence arising from a sandwich immunoassay that involves Angiopoietin-2. The sensing units consist of disposable and low-cost plastic biochips coated with the photonic crystal. The biosensing platform is demonstrated to detect Angiopoietin-2 in plasma samples at the clinically relevant concentration of 6 ng/mL, with an estimated limit of detection of approximately 1 ng/mL. This is the first Bloch surface wave based assay capable of detecting relevant concentrations of an angiogenic factor in plasma samples. The results obtained by the developed biosensing platform are in close agreement with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, demonstrating a good accuracy, and their repeatability showed acceptable relative variations.