C-reactive protein aptasensor for early sepsis diagnosis by means of an optical fiber device

This work presents the development of a fast response, low cost and real time monitoring biosensor for sepsis diagnosis by means of the detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a sepsis biomarker. The developed sensor has two main features. The first one consists of the utilization of high sensitive optical fiber refractometers based on Lossy Mode Resonances (LMRs). The second is the utilization of CRP-selective and high sensitive aptamer chains as the sensing element (bio-receptor). Thin polymer/aptamer films were fabricated using the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) technique onto the optical fiber device in order to facilitate the detection of the aptamer refractive index changes in presence of CRP. Obtained devices were able to discriminate between a non-pathological concentration (2mg/L) and a pathological concentration (20mg/L) of CRP in less than 15 min. In addition, these sensors could be reused after a proper decontamination process which enhances their lifetime.