Welcome to this week's newsletter from Zimmer and Peacock. This newsletter is a mixture of news, stories and tech notes from Zimmer and Peacock. If you want to subscribe to our newsletter or have any questions regarding Zimmer and Peacock and our passion for biosensor technologies please don't hesitate to contact us.
Fluorescence ELISA versus electrochemical ELISA
At Zimmer and Peacock, we are passionate about ELISA assays, in a recent correspondence with a collaborator our scientist debated the pros and cons of fluorescent ELISA assays versus electrochemical assays, which we have summarised below.
‘…we can indeed perform most bioanalyses with at least the same sensitivity as an established optically-based ELISA or other binding bioassay. I don’t see anything special about the protein ELISA kits that would preclude using a biosensor.
A biosensor is manufactured by binding a suitable antibody to the gold electrode surface. The surface is coated with a self-assembled monolayer, after the coating we bind the appropriate antibody. This is called “activation.” The sample can be processed in a similar mode as with any microplate assay. Most fluorescent dyes are electrochemically active so it is an easy translation from a fluorescence assay to a biosensor. However, we will usually recommend horseradish peroxidase or ferrocene to improve performance. Electrochemical methods require 1/100th to 1/1000th the power requirements that a fluorescence-based assay requires. This means that we can easily design and manufacture very small test rigs and POC devices.
There may be reasons not to use a biosensor, however sensitivity is not one of these reasons. Biosensors can be printed and packaged in very large quantities at a very low cost. A POC device may be especially suitable in regions of the world where laboratory facilities are overworked or scarce…’
Visit our website to find out more.
Online calculators for Biosensor applications
Zimmer and Peacock always try to help those people working on biosensor and medical diagnostics. This week we have put a variety of useful calculators on our website, find our free resource here.
G2 - New reader for biosensor and medical diagnostics
Zimmer and Peacock have launched their G2 reader for biosensor and medical diagnostic developers. The G2 Ana Pot is cased in machined alumina to give it the robustness for the development environment, whilst the finish necessary for showing to investors as a proof-of-principle reader.
At Zimmer and Peacock, we don't just deliver these readers, we also deliver over two decades of biosensor and medical diagnostic development expertise with each unit. Visit our website to find out more.
