Ultrasensitive Biosensor Detects Early Liver Fibrosis from Blood

Timely identification is clinically important because early-stage disease may be reversible with lifestyle modification or medication, yet frequent monitoring is often limited by patient discomfort and procedural constraints. New findings demonstrate a blood-based electrochemical approach designed to detect fibrosis at an earlier stage using small sample volumes.

Researchers at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) and their clinical partners have developed an ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor to measure a fibrosis-associated biomarker from a small blood sample. The platform, called FIB-EIS, targets procollagen type I C-terminal propeptide (PICP), a protein released into circulation as collagen accumulates during fibrotic change. By focusing on PICP, the team aimed to quantify liver scarring activity without relying on tissue sampling. The approach is intended to characterize disease biology through minimally invasive blood analysis.

The biosensor employs a carbon electrode coated with gold nanoparticles and functionalized with antibodies specific to PICP. When PICP binds to the immobilized antibodies, it alters the interfacial electrical impedance, which the system measures to indicate biomarker concentration. Because target recognition is transduced directly as an electrical signal, the assay does not require special staining or complex processing. To mitigate interference from abundant blood proteins, the researchers implemented a surface‑blocking strategy that limited nonspecific adhesion and improved analytical performance.

In tests using blood samples from actual patients, the platform differentiated healthy individuals from those with liver fibrosis with 95.24% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The biosensor also achieved a detection limit of 0.81 pg/mL, indicating high analytical sensitivity for low‑abundance targets. The work highlights the potential of impedance‑based sensing to quantify an extracellular matrix marker directly from whole blood.

The findings were published in Chemical Engineering Journal in a study titled “Precision detection of early-stage liver fibrosis in MASLD via physics‑informed interfacial impedance sensing of procollagen type I C‑terminal peptide.” Collaborating institutions included the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine and Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital. The team describes the platform as a step toward identifying liver abnormalities through blood analysis alone.

“This research is significant in demonstrating that liver disease can be detected early through a simple blood test, without subjecting patients to the pain of a tissue biopsy. If this technology can be further developed into a compact diagnostic device usable even at local clinics, we hope it will help many people detect and manage liver disease before it progresses,” said Jinsung Park, Professor of Biomechatronic Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University.

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