Sensors & diagnostics最新文献

We present an analysis of the molecular vibrational assessments of different grades of oral precancerous tissue sections, aiming to an early, alternative method other than histopathology to definitively distinguish their grades and remove the interobserver variability related to histopathological grading. Assessment of the prognosis of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) is dependent only on clinical features, and no defined criteria are still proposed to analyze the treatment outcome. Chair-side analysis of the lymph node metastasis and staging of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is also dependent on palpatory findings followed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Among these, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) micro-spectroscopy emerges as a highly promising and versatile approach for analyzing oral cancer and precancer specimens, enabling the identification of chemical and molecular changes in tissue samples. In this work, an adequate number of tissue sections affected by different grades of precancer (mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, and severe dysplasia) were investigated for biochemical changes in the epithelium and sub-epithelium layers as characterized by their corresponding molecular vibration spectrum. The current study demonstrated distinct alterations based on the spectrum shift of proteins (particularly amide I and amide III) over the progression of precancer. Additionally, using the amide I and amide III regions, a peak fitting method was employed to estimate the secondary structures of proteins. Further, chemometric techniques of principal components analysis–linear discriminant analysis (PCA–LDA) were used to create discrimination models for the precancerous and control groups. Our investigation revealed that the predictive performance of the amide III region was better than that of the amide I region, achieving a 95% accuracy rate. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies on the application of FTIR micro-spectroscopy for the classification of oral precancers in humans, aided by machine learning.

A novel and efficient thiosemicarbazone based chemosensor for the detection of transition metals through UV-visible fluorescence has been reported in this research. Dibenzyl thiosemicarbazones can bind with the transition metal ions and lead to the enhancement of the fluorescence. The reported dibenzyl thiosemicarbazone can detect Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Hg²⁺ appreciably due to inhibition of electron transfer while quenching of fluorescence occurs in Mn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ due to photoinduced electron transfer.

Ethanol gas excreted by human skin can be used to determine auto-brewery syndrome (drunken disease), blood alcohol levels, and/or a body state of alcoholism. Considering the limitations of continuous non-invasive alcohol gas monitoring based on the electrochemical method, which requires high sensitivity and selectivity, a CNF film sensor was developed. This sensor was developed by utilizing pyrroloquinoline quinone-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (PQQ-ADH) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based on cellulose nanofiber (CNF) film platform. With a compact design, a PQQ-ADH/MWCNTs/CNF film sensor was built in a three-electrode system. This system could continuously detect ethanol gas with ultra-high sensitivity, a wide detection range (24 ppb–25 ppm), and high selectivity for ethanol. Finally, the CNF film sensor was used for ethanol gas monitoring in the human subject, and we were able to detect metabolism abnormalities of the subject by analyzing the declining slope (detoxification rate) of the ethanol gas concentration monitored. The CNF film sensor aims to gain valuable insights and enhance future standard health screening practices through non-invasive wearable daily monitoring sensors.

Herein, a chromone-based simple reversible fluorescent “turn-on” probe, HMCP [6-(hydroxymethyl)-N′-((6-methyl-4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl)methylene)picolinohydrazide], was successfully utilized to detect Al³⁺ over a group of other coexisting metal cations in MeOH/H₂O (9 : 1, v/v) (HEPES buffer, pH = 7.2). The “turn on” emission response along with the effective enhancement of the fluorescence intensity upon addition of Al³⁺ can be attributed to the inhibition of photo-induced electron transfer (PET) and CN isomerization, as well as the initiation of chelation-enhanced-fluorescence (CHEF). The HMCP sensor binds Al³⁺ in a 1 : 1 stoichiometry with an excellent binding constant and good detection limit on the orders of 10³ M⁻¹ and 10⁻⁷ M, respectively. The mode of binding interaction between HMCP with Al³⁺ was evidenced by ¹H NMR titration, HRMS, and Job's plot analyses. Theoretical calculations and molecular logic gate applications were also used to demonstrate the binding mode. A DNA binding study was also executed to elucidate the possible bioactivity of the probe and found that HMCP interacts with DNA more effectively than the other analogues studied. Furthermore, the applicability of the probe in a live cell imaging study indicated that HMCP is highly efficient for the detection of exogenous Al³⁺ in living cells. In addition, real water sample analysis and a dip-stick experiment demonstrate that the probe can be used in a wide range of practical and convenient applications.

Novel biomaterials that bridge the knowledge gap in coupling molecular/protein signatures of disease/stress with rapid readouts are a critical need of society. One such scenario is an imbalance between bodily heat production and heat dissipation which leads to heat stress in organisms. In addition to diminished animal well-being, heat stress is detrimental to the poultry industry as poultry entails fast growth and high yields, resulting in greater metabolic activity and higher body heat production. When stressed, cells overexpress heat shock proteins (such as HSP70, a well-established intracellular stress indicator) and may undergo changes in their mechanical properties. Liquid crystals (LCs, fluids with orientational order) are facile sensors as they can readily transduce chemical signals to easily observable optical responses. In this work, we introduce a hybrid LC–cell biomaterial within which the difference in the expression of HSP70 is linked to optical changes in the response pattern via the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The machine-learning (ML) models were trained on hundreds of such LC-response micrographs of chicken red blood cells with and without heat stress. The trained models exhibited remarkable accuracy of up to 99% on detecting the presence of heat stress in unseen microscopy samples. We also show that cross-linking chicken and human RBCs using glutaraldehyde in order to simulate a diseased cell was an efficient strategy for planning, building, training, and evaluating ML models. Overall, our efforts build towards designing biomaterials that can rapidly detect disease in organisms that is accompanied by a distinct change in the mechanical properties of cells. We aim to eventuate CNN-enabled LC-sensors that can rapidly report the presence of disease in scenarios where human judgment could be prohibitively difficult or slow.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing global health concern, necessitating early and accurate diagnostic tools to manage and mitigate its progression. Point-of-care (POC) biosensors and devices offer a promising solution for rapid, cost-effective, and accessible diagnostics. This review explores the latest advancements in POC biosensors and devices specifically designed for CKD diagnostics. In this review, we discuss the biosensors most likely to achieve on-site detection of CKD, focusing on their design and application in real samples, including electrochemical, fluorescent, and colorimetric sensors. Also, the innovative platforms are summarized from lateral flow devices, lab-on-a-chip devices, and microfluidic-based devices. The potential of these technologies for real-time monitoring, early detection, and personalized treatment is underscored. The review concludes by envisioning future perspectives and the transformative impact of POC biosensors in CKD diagnostics, aiming to improve patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.

The nucleolus is crucial for ribonucleoprotein particle assembly. Vital molecular regulators such as RB (retinoblastoma protein) and p53 (tumor suppressor protein) influence nucleolar function and tumorigenesis. The absence or inactivation of these proteins often leads to nucleolar dysfunction and alteration, which is a key indicator among the primary histopathological features of malignancy. These changes are closely related to the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of tumor cells, such as abnormalities in the number, size, and shape of nucleoli. In recent years, as the relationship between nucleoli and tumorigenesis has been further explored, various nucleolar labeling techniques have been developed for pathological analysis and tumor diagnosis, such as immunohistochemistry (IHC)/immunofluorescence (IF), and fluorescence labeling. These methods complement the traditional use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for observing nucleoli. In this review, we explore the relationship between the nucleolus and tumorigenesis and evaluate current methods for diagnosing tumors by examining nucleolar characteristics. We discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of diagnostic techniques such as TEM, IHC/IF, and fluorescence labeling for analyzing the nucleolus.

The development of rapid and accurate pathogen detection methods is of paramount importance for slowing the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. However, the high similarity between different pathogens, especially between antibiotic-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant strains of the same species, presents great challenges for the precise discrimination of pathogens. In recent years, chemical nose strategies, i.e. sensor arrays, have achieved certain success in pathogen discrimination. Currently, chemical nose strategies for identifying pathogens are mainly designed from two perspectives: the disparity in extrinsic properties (biomolecules, charge, and hydrophobicity of the bacterial surface) and intrinsic properties (processes and products mediated by bacterial enzymes) among different pathogens. Biosensing probes capable of responding to these properties are introduced for pathogen detection. The output signals are then processed and analyzed by machine learning algorithms to visualize the multidimensional detection results and achieve pathogen discrimination. This paper introduces the latest developments in sensor arrays for pathogen identification based on the extrinsic and intrinsic nature of bacteria, highlights the recognition mechanism of probes for bacteria, and outlines the current challenges and prospects of sensor arrays for pathogen discrimination.

Development of fluorescence indicators for efficient and accurate detection of lethal nerve agents has evoked extensive interest recently. Herein, we presented two spiranic 4,4-diaryloxy-BODIPY derivatives for efficient and fluorescence turn-on detection of sarin in solution media. A colorimetric mode featured the merits of obvious color changes from dark to greenish fluorescence under UV light. The generated new fluorescence emissions reached their maxima within several minutes and the peaks were assigned to the generated by-product oxo-BDP with a fluorescence quantum yield (Φ_F) ∼ 20% in acetonitrile. The detection limits of two 4,4-diaryloxy-BODIPYs for a simulant diethylchlorophosphate (DCP) were determined to be 13.2 nM and 8.2 nM, respectively. The underlying sensing mechanism was clarified as the synergistic effect of 4,4-bond cleaving and fluorescence turn-on related to the photoinduced electron transfer process. Furthermore, a compact tubular sensor and a sensing platform prototype were fabricated properly. Superior detection results and further evaluation for real samples and simulants could be conducted at the sub-mM level on-site. Successful trials aid in understanding the structure–function relationship of 4,4-disubstituted BODIPY chromophores as well as the future development of a miniaturized device prototype for on-site detection of chemical warfare agents.

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