A Multiplex “Disposable Photonics” Biosensor Platform and Its Application to Antibody Profiling in Upper Respiratory Disease

Photonic technologies promise to deliver quantitative, multiplex, and inexpensive medical diagnostic platforms by leveraging the highly scalable processes developed for the fabrication of semiconductor microchips. However, in practice, the affordability of these platforms is limited by complex and expensive sample handling and optical alignment. We previously reported the development of a disposable photonic assay that incorporates inexpensive plastic micropillar microfluidic cards for sample delivery. That system as developed was limited to singleplex assays due to its optical configuration. To enable multiplexing, we report a new approach addressing multiplex light I/O, in which the outputs of individual grating couplers on a photonic chip are mapped to fibers in a fiber bundle. As demonstrated in the context of detecting antibody responses to influenza and SARS-CoV-2 antigens in human serum and saliva, this enables multiplexing in an inexpensive, disposable, and compact format.