Cátia Leitão

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical entity included in cardiovascular diseases affecting millions of people worldwide, being a leading cause of hospitalization of older adults, and therefore imposing a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems. HF is characterized by dyspnea, fatigue, and edema associated with elevated blood levels of natriuretic peptides, such as N Terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP), for which there is a high demand for point of care testing (POCT) devices. Optical fiber (OF) biosensors offer a promising solution, capable of real-time detection, quantification, and monitoring of NT-proBNP concentrations in serum, saliva, or urine. In this study, immunosensors based on plasmonic uncladded OF tips were developed using OF with different core diameters (200 and 600 µm). The tips were characterized to bulk refractive index (RI), anddetection tests were conducted with NT-proBNP concentrations varying from 0.01 to 100 ng/mL. The 200 µm sensors showed an average total variation of 3.6 ± 2.5 mRIU, an average sensitivity of 50.5 mRIU/ng·mL−1, and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.15 ng/mL, while the 600 µm sensors had a response of 6.1 ± 4.2 mRIU, a sensitivity of 102.8 mRIU/ng·mL−1, and an LOD of 0.11 ng/mL. Control tests were performed using interferents such as uric acid, glucose, and creatinine. The results show the potential of these sensors for their use in biological fluids.