Portable, High-Sensitive, and Metglas Alloy 2826 MB-Based Magnetoelastic Biosensor to Detect the Osteoarthritis Marker MMP-3

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common joint disorders affecting human health. Early detection of OA is essential for effective treatment of the disease. There is a growing demand of techniques for highly sensitive detection of trace OA markers. Here, the magnetoelastic (ME) biosensor based on Metglas alloy 2826 MB is presented to detect matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) of the OA biomarker, through the measurement of resonant frequency changes with excellent magnetostrictive effects. The detection system consists of an ME chip immobilized with MMP-3 antibody and an electromagnetic coil. Since the ME biosensor is ultrasensitive to mass changes, the frequency shift caused by mass changes induced by antibody–antigen-specific binding can be used to reflect the amount of MMP-3. The ME biosensor has been applied to detect the actual joint fluid sample of OA patients, demonstrating its feasibility. The results show that this assay has a linear response to the MMP-3 concentrations ranging from 30.7 to $2000\,\,{\mathrm {ng}} \cdot\,{\mathrm {mL}}^{-}1$ with a detection limit of $30.7\,\,{\mathrm {ng}} \cdot\,{\mathrm {mL}}^{-}1$ , covering the range of clinical tests required for the diagnosis of OA. The ME biosensor provides a novel and viable method for the diagnosis of early OA.