journal article·2026-05-19Open access

Time‐Multiplexed Organic Electrochemical Transistor for Saliva‐Based Rapid Detection of Viral Proteins

Tianrui Chang, Yuxiang Ren, Shofarul Wustoni, Atheer Alqatari, Adel Hama, Yazhou Wang, Long Chen, Jessica Parrado Agudelo, Luca Salvigni, Keying Guo, Ashraf Dada, Stefan T. Arold, Raik Grünberg, Sahika Inal

Abstract

ABSTRACT Timely and accurate diagnosis of respiratory infections is complicated by the symptomatic overlap between highly transmissible pathogens such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A (IAV), and influenza B (IBV), highlighting the need for rapid and reliable diagnostics. Here, we report a time‐multiplexed nanobody‐functionalized organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) biosensor for the sensitive detection of RSV, IAV, and IBV directly from unprocessed saliva samples. The platform integrates arrays of nanobody‐functionalized gate electrodes that are exposed in parallel to a single sample and sequentially addressed through a shared transistor channel. We characterize nine previously reported nanobodies and immobilize the best‐performing ones using an oriented SpyDirect self‐assembly strategy. The nanobody‐functionalized gate electrodes are paired with a high‐performance p‐type organic mixed ionic‐electronic conductor channel, enabling efficient signal transduction. The sensor achieves a limit of detection of ca. 1 f m and identifies viral targets within 15 min, without sample preprocessing. In a clinical validation using 17 samples, the platform demonstrated 100% specificity, 86.7% sensitivity, and 88.2% overall accuracy. By combining highly specific nanobodies, a high‐gain transducer, customized surface pre‐treatment, and a time‐multiplexed multi‐gate architecture, this approach provides a scalable and user‐friendly platform for point‐of‐care virus detection.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Respiratory viral infections research · SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing · Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Organic Bioelectronics Laboratory Biomedical Sciences Division King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Thuwal Saudi Arabia

KAUST Center of Excellence for Smart Health (KCSH) Biomedical Sciences Division KAUST Thuwal Saudi Arabia

Imaging and Characterization Core Laboratories KAUST Thuwal Saudi Arabia

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre – Jeddah Branch | KFSHRC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Jeddah Saudi Arabia

College of Medicine Al Faisal University Riyadh Saudi Arabia

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