LSPR-susceptible metasurface platform for spectrometer-less and AI-empowered diagnostic biomolecule detection.

In response to the growing demand for biomolecular diagnostics, metasurface (MS) platforms based on high-Q resonators have demonstrated their capability to detect analytes with smart data processing and image analysis technologies. However, high-Q resonator meta-atom arrays are highly sensitive to the fabrication process and chemical surface functionalization. Thus, spectrum scanning systems are required to monitor the resonant wavelength changes at every step, from fabrication to practical sensing. In this study, we propose an innovative dielectric resonator-independent MS platform that enables spectrometer-less biomolecule detection using artificial intelligence (AI) at a visible wavelength. Functionalizing the focused vortex MS to capture gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based sandwich immunoassays causes the resulting vortex beam profiles to be significantly affected by the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) occurring between AuNPs and meta-atoms. The convolutional neural network algorithm was carefully trained to accurately classify the AuNP concentration-dependent focused vortex beam, facilitating the determination of the concentration of the targeted diagnostic biomolecule. Successful in situ identification of various biomolecule concentrations was achieved with over 99 % accuracy, indicating the potential of combining an LSPR-susceptible MS platform and AI for continuously tracking various chemical and biological compounds.

Synergistic Use of Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs) and "Capillary Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)" for High Sensitivity and Fast Assays.

Using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on "capillary enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)", we produced highly sensitive and rapid assays, which are the major attributes for point-of-care applications. First, in order to understand the size effect of AuNPs, AuNPs of varying diameters (5 nm, 10 nm, 15 nm, 20 nm, 30 nm, and 50 nm) conjugated with Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP)-labeled anti-C reactive protein (antiCRP) (AuNP•antiCRP-HRP) were used for well-plate ELISA. AuNP of 10 nm produced the largest optical density, enabling detection of 0.1 ng/mL of CRP with only 30 s of incubation, in contrast to 10 ng/mL for the ELISA run in the absence of AuNP. Then, AuNP of 10 nm conjugated with antiCRP-HRP (AuNP•antiCRP-HRP) was used for "capillary ELISA" to detect as low as 0.1 ng/mL of CRP. Also, kinetic study on both 96-well plates and in a capillary tube using antiCRP-HRP or AuNP•antiCRP-HRP showed a synergistic effect between AuNP and the capillary system, in which the fastest assay was observed from the "AuNP capillary ELISA", with its maximum absorbance reaching 2.5 min, while the slowest was the typical well-plate ELISA with its maximum absorbance reaching in 13.5 min.