Small molecule detection is of wide interest in clinical and industrial applications. However, its accessibility is still limited as miniaturisation and system integration is challenged in reliability, costs and complexity. Here we combined a 14.3 MHz quartz crystal resonator (QCR), actuated and analysed using a fixed frequency drive (FFD) method, with a nanomolecular imprinted polymer for label-free, realtime detection of N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (199 Da), a gram-negative bacterial infection biomarker. The lowest concentration detected (1 μM) without any optimisation was comparable with that of a BIAcore SPR system, an expensive laboratory gold standard, with significant enhancement in sensitivity and specificity beyond the state-of-the-art QCR. The analytical formula-based FFD method can potentially allow a multiplexed "QCR-on-chip" technology, bringing a paradigm shift in speed, accessibility and affordability of small molecule detection.

中文翻译：

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使用纳米分子印迹聚合物受体和以固定频率和振幅驱动的石英晶体谐振器直接检测小分子。

小分子检测在临床和工业应用中受到广泛关注。然而，由于小型化和系统集成在可靠性，成本和复杂性方面的挑战，其可访问性仍然受到限制。在这里，我们结合了14.3 MHz石英晶体谐振器（QCR），使用固定频率驱动（FFD）方法进行驱动和分析，以及纳米分子印迹聚合物，用于无标签，实时检测N-己酰基-L-高丝氨酸内酯（199 Da）。 ），革兰氏阴性细菌感染生物标志物。无需任何优化即可检测到的最低浓度（1μM）可与昂贵的实验室金标准BIAcore SPR系统相媲美，其灵敏度和特异性大大提高，超过了最新的QCR。基于分析公式的FFD方法可以潜在地允许“