Chennai: A multi-institute team led by IIT Madras has developed a biosensor platform to test pregnant women for pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening complication, in just 30 minutes and ensure timely treatment.
The point-of-care test uses fibre optics sensor technology, a plasmonic fibre optics absorbance biosensor (PFAB), which measures placental growth factor (PlGF), a protein, to detect pre-eclampsia in early stages of pregnancy. The condition causes high blood pressure and signs of liver or kidney damage during the second half of pregnancy.
“Placental growth factor (PlGF) is an angiogenic (process involved in the formation of blood vessels) blood biomarker for pre-eclampsia diagnosis,” said Prof V V Raghavendra Sai, Biosensors Laboratory, department of applied mechanics and biomedical engineering, IIT Madras.
The team said the usual method to detect pre-eclampsia is time-consuming, requiring large infrastructure and trained personnel, making it inaccessible to remote and resource-limited areas.
The PlGF biomarker, which normally peaks at 28-32 weeks, decreases significantly in women with pre-eclampsia. The POF sensor probes developed by the team measured PlGF levels in 30 minutes using PFAB strategy.
Clinical sample tests confirmed the platform’s accuracy, reliability, specificity, and sensitivity, making it a cost-effective solution for early pre-eclampsia diagnosis.
The study, involving IIT-M, Vellore Institute of Technology, Sri Sakthi Amma Institute of Biomedical Research, and Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre, Vellore, was published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Ramprasad Srinivasan from Sri Sakthi Amma Institute of Biomedical Research, said the test can detect PlGF as early as 11-13 weeks of gestation, enabling early intervention with low-dose aspirin for high-risk women, thereby improving maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Ratan Kumar Chaudhary, the paper’s first author and an IIT-M graduate, said the test requires only minimal sample volume, making it rapid, simple, and environmentally friendly.
