Low-Numerical Aperture Microscope Objective Boosted by Liquid-Immersed Dielectric Microspheres for Quantum Dot-Based Digital Immunoassays

Anal Chem. 2021 Sep 28;93(38):12848-12853. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c02709. Epub 2021 Sep 14.

Abstract

Quantum dot (QD)-based digital immunoassays play an important role in ultrasensitive biomarker detection. However, the requirement of an objective with a high numerical aperture (NA) limits the application of this immunoassay. Here, high-quality imaging of massive single-QDs was achieved by the combination of an air objective (20×/0.4 NA) and liquid-immersed microspheres (150 μm, n = 2.2). The signal-to-noise ratio was comparable to that of a 100×/1.4 NA oil objective. Digital analysis of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was performed within the dynamic range of 0-50 ng/mL and a limit of detection of 0.17 ng/mL. The measured serum data from the PSA were close to the values provided by a hospital. Using a low-magnification and low-NA objective may reduce the barrier of microscopy miniaturization and is beneficial to popularize biomolecular digital analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Immunoassay
  • Male
  • Microspheres
  • Prostate-Specific Antigen
  • Quantum Dots*
  • Serum

Substances

  • Prostate-Specific Antigen