A method for analyzing or detecting methimazole (“MTZ”) comprising contacting a sample suspected of containing MTZ with the dendrimer-stabilized silver nanoparticles and performing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Graphene-dendrimer-stabilized silver nanoparticles (G-D-Ag).

Provided herein is a sensing apparatus comprising, at least one LSPR light source, at least one detector, and at least one sensor for LSPR detection of a target chemical. The sensor comprises a substantially transparent, porous membrane having nanoparticles immobilized on the surface of its pores, the nanoparticles being functionalized with one or more capture molecules. There is further provided a self-referencing sensor for distinguishing non-specific signals from analyte binding signals. The self-referencing sensor comprising one or more nanoparticles having at least two distinct LSPR signals.

A novel detection system and method is presented, where a two-bead receptor method is used for capturing pathogens, with one type of bead being magnetic and having a size of 3 microns or smaller, and the other type being polymeric and having a size of 3 microns or larger. The first type is used to concentrate a pathogen; the latter is used to create a detectable signal. Fast sensitive detection is achieved by collecting the optical signal created by the distortion of a homeotropically aligned chromonic azo dye in the presence of captured pathogens.

Integrated devices that include a sample preparation component integrated with a detection component are disclosed. The sample preparation component may be a digital microfluidics module or a surface acoustic wave module which modules are used for combing a sample droplet with a reagent droplet and for performing additional sample preparation step leading to a droplet that contains beads/particles/labels that indicate presence or absence of an analyte of interest in the sample. The beads/particles/labels may be detected by moving the droplet to the detection component of the device, which detection component includes an array of wells.

A contrast-amplifying carrier for observing a sample, includes a transparent substrate bearing at least one absorbent coating suitable for behaving as an antireflection coating when it is illuminated at normal incidence at an illumination wavelength λ through the substrate and when the face of the coating opposite the substrate is in contact with a medium referred to as a transparent ambient medium, the refractive index n.sub.3 of which is lower than that of the refractive index n.sub.0 of the substrate. The absorbent coating comprises: an absorbent sublayer referred to as the contrast sublayer, deposited on the surface of the transparent substrate; and an absorbent layer referred to as the sensitive layer, distinct from the contrast sublayer and comprising between 1 and 5 sheets of a graphene-type material. Methods for producing and for using such a contrast-amplifying carrier are also provided.

According to one embodiment, a molecule detecting device includes a capturing section, a releasing section, and a detecting section. The capturing section is configured to, by combining a target molecule and a solubilizing agent with each other and thereby creating a composite body, capture the target molecule in a carrier liquid. The releasing section is configured to make the composite body release the target molecule therefrom in the carrier liquid. The detecting section is configured to carry out detection of the target molecule in the carrier liquid.

The invention provides devices that improve tests for detecting specific cellular, viral, and molecular targets in clinical, industrial, or environmental samples. The invention permits efficient detection of individual microscopic targets at low magnification for highly sensitive testing. The invention does not require washing steps and thus allows sensitive and specific detection while simplifying manual operation and lowering costs and complexity in automated operation. In short, the invention provides devices that can deliver rapid, accurate, and quantitative, easy-to-use, and cost-effective tests.

Provided are devices and methods to detect the presence of volatile organic compounds related to the presence of a disease state in a biological sample. The devices may include a detection moiety such as a polynucleoide in electronic communication with a semiconductor such as graphene or a carbon nanotube.

It is an object of this disclosure to provide systems, devices, and methods for the direct use of fluorescent reporters that measure multiaxial and dynamic shear flows that occur invitro or in vivo across a surface of interest, where shear flows canbe measured, quantified and/or correlated to physiological changes in cells or tissues in real time. In certain embodiments, this disclosure contemplates imaging or visualizing the shear field applied to a surface, e.g., a surface of cells or inner lining of a blood vessel, the lumen of pumping lymphatics, within the bile duct, vessels with significant leakage, inflamed endothelium, tumor vasculature, or other systems.

This disclosure relates generally to detection of pathogens from a gaseous mixture associated with secretions. Conventional methods typically involve invasive or biohazardous techniques, the requirement of quantity limits utility of several natural secretions, there is a dependency on immunological reactions to develop in a subject being monitored resulting in long time taken for detecting pathogens, which increases risk to health and environment. There is also reduced specificity and sensitivity considering the dependency on signature identification or training of machine learning models. Again, prior art focusses on designing antibodies for a particular type of sensor which is challenging when dealing with natural immunoglobulin. The present disclosure addresses these challenges by enabling identification of a most viable sensor for the natural immunoglobin, the viability being based on mathematical representations of the relationship between a sensor and the immunoglobulin using an ontology of domain knowledge associated with pathogens, technology, processing and detection.