An electrochemical sensor for quantitative analysis of Rhesus D antibodies in blood

The Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus and Newborn (HDFN), if untreated, can have severe consequences on baby’s health, eventually causing death. Prevention and diagnosis of pregnancies at risk of HDFN consists in quantitative analysis in hospital every 2-4 weeks of blood group antibodies in maternal serum. The most important antibodies to be monitored are anti- Rhesus D (or anti-RhD) ones. Nowadays several portable systems for different healthcare applications have been developed towards decentralization of diagnosis thanks to the enormous advances in electrochemical biosensing. Home-monitoring of pregnancies at risk of HDFN could significantly improve patients’ life quality. Here we demonstrate for the first time label-free quantitative detection of anti-RhD antibodies by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), suitable for integration within a complete portable device. The specificity of the sensor was also proved.