DNA Aptamer Integrated Hydrogel Nanocomposites on Screen Printed Gold Electrodes for Point‐of‐Care Detection of Testosterone in Human Serum

Abstract

AbstractThis work describes the development and evaluation of a novel electrochemical aptasensor for testosterone detection. The sensor utilizes a specifically designed DNA immobilized on a screen‐printed gold electrode (SPGE) modified with a conductive hydrogel and gold nanoparticles (HG/NP) composite. The aptasensor exhibited a dose‐dependent response to testosterone (0.05 to 50 ng/mL) with a detection limit of 0.14 ng/mL and a good sensitivity of 0.23 μA ng−1 mL cm−2. The sensor displayed excellent selectivity towards testosterone compared to structurally similar steroid hormones. Importantly, the incorporation of HG/NP not only improved the sensor‘s conductivity but also acted as an antifouling layer, minimizing signal interference from non‐specific biomolecule interactions in complex biological samples like human serum. The results obtained from the aptasensor showed good correlation with a standard ELISA method, demonstrating its effectiveness in real‐world scenarios.