Digitized molecular detection on off-the-shelf Blu-ray discs: Upgraded resolution and enhanced sensitivity

Abstract

Beyond the intrinsic capability of storing and archiving high-definition movies and games, off-the-shelf Blu-ray discs have been adopted for the preparation of molecular binding assays, which are subsequently read and quantitated with a standard computer drive in conjunction with the disc-quality check program. The performance of this digitized molecular detection system has been examined first with an artificial "ink assay" (an array of microsize ink dots) to define the quantitation capability and the lateral resolution; the conventional biotin-streptavidin binding assay was then tested with the Blu-ray detection platform, and the results compared with that obtained on a DVD. The upgraded lateral resolution (<100 μm) and enhanced assay performance (linear response up to 0.4 μg/mL and LOD estimated to be < 0.1 μg/mL for the trial biotin-streptavidin system augments its potential to be adapted as a cost-effective and quantitative diagnostic tool for on-site analysis and point-of-care medical diagnosis at trace amounts.

Indirect Competitive Immunoassay on a Blu-ray Disc for Digitized Quantitation of Food Toxins

“…The amount of surface-bound antibodies would be dictated by the relative abundance of free AFB1 and anti-AFB1 antibodies in the sample, which in turn determines the density of deposited Ag/Ag 2 O clusters as these metallic clusters would interrupt the laser reading and produce errors that can be quantitatively detected by an optical drive . For BD systems, reading errors are classified as either LDC (long distance code) or BIS (burst indicator code) errors; it was confirmed that the distribution and density of the resulting BIS errors are directly correlated with the physical position and “density” of the Ag/clusters on the enhanced binding strips. , …”

“…9 For BD systems, reading errors are classified as either LDC (long distance code) or BIS (burst indicator code) errors; it was confirmed that the distribution and density of the resulting BIS errors are directly correlated with the physical position and "density" of the Ag/ clusters on the enhanced binding strips. 19,20 The performance of such an indirect competitive assay depends on both the surface coverage of immobilized AFB1-BSA and concentration of biotin-labeled antibodies, which essentially affects the sensitivity and dynamic response range. To achieve the optimal surface coverage of immobilized AFB1-BSA conjugates, different concentrations (0−100 μg/mL) of AFB1-BSA conjugates were examined with the same concentration of biotin-labeled antibodies (14 μg/mL; in the absence of free AFB1).…”

“…Complementary to above explorations of modifying Blu-ray optical drives as compelling signal reading devices, − we have upgraded our digital molecular detection platform using off-the-shelf Blu-ray discs in conjunction with standard Blu-ray drives. − For such a “digital” molecular detection platform, the signal readout is performed with a free disc-quality check software program, which has been validated for multiplex quantitation of cardiac biomarkers . In this present study, we focus on the new application aspect of BD technology-based detection platform, i.e., to explore the feasibility of performing indirect competitive immunoassays for small molecular analytes, food toxins (aflatoxin B1).…”

Hacking CD/DVD/Blu-ray for Biosensing

“…38 The ECC-based method has been extended for applications such as onsite pregnancy test, 39 multiplexed drug abuse diagnostics, 40 heavy metal detection, 41 and acute myocardial infarction monitoring. 41 Furthermore, Blu-ray optical drives have been shown to increase the resolution and sensitivity for biosensing, 42,43 reaching a sensitivity and selectivity comparable to standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.…”

Measurement and determination of encoder disc surface parameters in x-z planes using a conventional optical disc reading head

“…Some approaches deal with the application fields such as accelerometry, profilometry and linear measurements [13][14][15]. Latest research suggests that CD and DVD pick up heads have a lot of potential for the instrumentation development in biochemistry and biosensing [16,17]. However, it was not applied for the determination of an angle encoder disc surface quality measurements.…”