Insights into the mechanism of coreactant electrochemiluminescence facilitating enhanced bioanalytical performance

Making a sensitive technique even more sensitive

23 December 2020

A highly sensitive analytic technique for detecting biomarkers in blood samples has just become even more sensitive thanks to refinements that boost its signal strength.

Electrochemiluminescence is powerful biosensing technique that can be used to detect very low levels of biomarkers. It involves applying an electric field to a sample and observing the light emitted from the ensuing electrochemical reaction.

Now, a team that included three researchers at Roche Diagnostic in Germany has increased its sensitivity levels by 128%. They did this by enhancing the generation of electrochemiluminescence close to the surface of the electrode using a combination of microscopy and labeled microbeads. This result in a ten-fold signal enhancement near the electrode surface.

The researchers anticipate that their technique will lead to the development of ultrasensitive blood tests.

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References

1. Nature Communications 11, 2668 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16476-2