Hydrogel SERS Sensor

Direct plasma detection of anthracyclines

Detects anthracycline anticancer drugs directly in plasma without pretreatment, using hydrogel pore trapping and nanoparticle encapsulation to exclude macromolecular interference while maintaining probe signal stability.

Bohan, Zhang · Jinying, Lin · Wenzheng, Wu · Zhenglong, Chen · You, Ruiyun · Lu, Yudong · Zhang, Tao · Fan, Yong

Chemical Engineering Journal 2026

Specifications

Detection limit for doxorubicin

{'zh': '3.4 × 10⁻⁸', 'en': '3.4 × 10⁻⁸'} M

Detection limit for mitoxantrone

{'zh': '3.6 × 10⁻⁹', 'en': '3.6 × 10⁻⁹'} M

Internal probe signal retention

{'zh': '71.05', 'en': '71.05'} %

Classification accuracy

{'zh': '100', 'en': '100'} %

Advantages

No pretreatment

The hydrogel pore-trapping excludes macromolecules, allowing direct detection of drugs in plasma without centrifugation or purification.

Long-term stability

Nanoparticles are encapsulated in the hydrogel, retaining 71.05% of the internal probe signal after 50 days.

High sensitivity

Detection limits reach the 10⁻⁹ M level, meeting the trace-level needs of clinical drug monitoring.

Intelligent classification

Machine learning achieves 100% accuracy in distinguishing the two structurally similar anthracyclines in plasma.

Applications

• Drug concentration monitoring：Directly measure plasma drug levels to guide personalized dosing.
• Rapid clinical testing：No pretreatment enables rapid results for point-of-care testing.
• Liquid biopsy：Noninvasive detection of drug molecules in plasma.
• Anthracycline anticancer drugs：Specifically identify and classify anthracyclines to avoid confusion.
• Wearable sensing：Hydrogel flexibility enables integration into wearable devices.