High resolution patterning of hydrogel sensing motifs within fibrous substrates for highly sensitive and multiplexed detection of nucleic acid biomarkers

There has been an increasing demand to develop nucleic acid bioassays which offer high analytical performance in addition to amenability with point-of-care testing. By leveraging projection lithography, we develop a biosensing platform based on direct, high-resolution polymerization of microscale hydrogel motifs within fibrous substrates. Our miniaturized platform enables multiplex detection (through spatial encoding) in a user-friendly format. As a proof-of-concept, we apply the assay to the detection of microRNA biomarkers, demonstrating a large dynamic range (>3 order of magnitude), low limit-of-detection (50 fM; 2.5amol), and compatibility with clinical applications.