Gabriel Ybarra

Electrochemical magnetic microbeads-based biosensor for point-of-care serodiagnosis of infectious diseases.

Access to appropriate diagnostic tools is an essential component in the evaluation and improvement of global health. Additionally, timely detection of infectious agents is critical in early diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Conventional pathogen detection methods such as culturing, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) require long assay times, and complex and expensive instruments making them not adaptable to point-of-care (PoC) needs at resource-constrained places and primary care settings. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop portable, simple, rapid, and accurate methods for PoC detection of infections. Here, we present the development and validation of a portable, robust and inexpensive electrochemical magnetic microbeads-based biosensor (EMBIA) platform for PoC serodiagnosis of infectious diseases caused by different types of microorganisms (parasitic protozoa, bacteria and viruses). We demonstrate the potential use of the EMBIA platform for in situ diagnosis of human (Chagas disease and human brucellosis) and animal (bovine brucellosis and foot-and-mouth disease) infections clearly differentiating infected from non-infected individuals or animals. For Chagas disease, a more extensive validation of the test was performed showing that the EMBIA platform displayed an excellent diagnostic performance almost indistinguishable, in terms of specificity and sensitivity, from a fluorescent immunomagnetic assay and the conventional ELISA using the same combination of antigens. This platform technology could potentially be applicable to diagnose other infectious and non-infectious diseases as well as detection and/or quantification of biomarkers at the POC and primary care settings.

Fundamentals and Applications of Immunosensors

Immunosensors are compact analytical devices in which the event of formation of antigenantibody complexes is detected and converted, by means of a transducer, to an electrical signal, which can be processed, recorded and displayed. Different transducing mechanisms are employed in immunological biosensors, based on signal generation (such as an electrochemical or optical signal) or properties changes (such as mass changes) following the formation of antigen-antibody complexes. In this chapter, the basics of immunosensors are presented focused on the different transduction techniques used in immunosensing.

Smartphone controlled platform for point-of-care diagnosis of infectious diseases

In this work, we present the development of a point-of-care platform for the serologic diagnosis of infectious diseases. The complete system consists of magnetic particles with immobilized antigens, disposable electrochemical cells, hardware and software. The main purpose of this paper is to present the last two components. The platform is powered by a rechargeable battery and can be controlled using mobile devices, allowing point-of-care diagnosis of diseases. The platform was successfully tested for the diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease, human and bovine brucellosis, and Chagas disease.

Semiconductor properties of passive oxide layers on binary tin + indium alloys

Abstract The electrochemical behaviour and solid state properties of passive oxide layers formed on binary tin + indium alloys in alkaline aqueous solution were studied by using photocurrent spectroscopy (PCS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results obtained from PCS and EIS measurements showed that the anodically formed tin oxides behaved as heavily doped, n-type amorphous semiconductors. From the photocurrent spectra the mobility gap energies of different passive layers were evaluated. The mobility gap exhibited a remarkable dependence on the alloy composition, shifting towards higher energies as the indium content in the alloy was increased. Impedance diagrams displayed a complex frequency response and the corresponding transfer function analysis employing both parametric identification procedures and non-linear fit routines, presented several contributions. The apparent flat-band potential obtained from Mott-Schottky plots depended on alloy composition, shifting more negatively with increasing indium content. On the basis of PCS and EIS data, a tentative scheme of the valence and conduction mobility edge energies for the different passive films was postulated and its correlation with the oxide layer composition critically discussed.

Diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease by electrochemical enzyme-linked immunoassay

The development of an inmunosensor for the point-of-care detection of the foot-and-mouth cattle disease is presented. The detector is based on an ELISA method with electrochemical detection. A non-structural protein, 3ABC, is used to selectively detect antibodies is used to selectively detect anti-3ABC antibodies produced after infection. The biological test is performed onto a screen printed electrodes. A dedicated small, portable potentiostat is employed for the control of the sensors, as well as data acquisition, processing, and storage.