Multiplexed point-of-care (xPOC) biosensors enable the on-site detection of various analytes from a single specimen in a timely manner, allowing immediate clinical management decisions. In this respect, isothermal amplification (IA) methods are suitable in xPOC for the genomic identification of the infectious agents. Optical microarray systems can be adopted in xPOC because they allow the parallel analysis of multiple biomolecules.

This project will address the urgent need for xPOC systems for the detection of various pathogens (bacterial/fungal). Hence, the main objective is to develop a nanostructured detection platform onto which a IA method will be implemented for the rapid amplification of DNA. This issue has been poorly studied in the research settings in Romania.

The project will focus at four different levels:

1) the development of a nanostructured Si platform with an appropriate surface functionalization for the binding of capture probes;

2) the manufacturing of PDMS cavities which will act as reaction chambers for the IA;

3) the design of primer sets and the optimization of LAMP reactions;

4) the statistical data analysis, in order to prove the specificity of the developed xPOC platform. The multidisciplinary nature of the project is strong, involving a combination of nanotechnology, surface chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology and statistics.