Point-of-care (POC) in-vitro diagnostic assays are very appealing due to their low cost, short response time and simplicity of use with minimal sample manipulation. However, POC assays are currently limited to single-point measurements in a qualitative fashion. In many instances such as the diagnosis of infectious diseases, the care of elderly persons, the analysis of drug of abuses, the monitoring of drug treatments, and healthcare in developing countries, rapid, on-site quantitative testing would represent a paradigm change in health care: the quality of the diagnostics would be improved while being less demanding on the patient and more affordable.
Our project aims at exploring a novel POC approach that could open unmet opportunities of continuously and quantitatively monitoring biomarkers or small molecules in blood. Our design relies on the assembly of standard assay components as supramolecular structures tethered to a surface. These smart supramolecular biosensors will react quantitatively to the deposition of a single drop of blood. This approach will enable multiplexed detection with improved diagnostics and will open the way for continuously monitoring biomarkers or small molecules in blood.