DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEL PLATFORMS FOR QUARTZ CRYSTAL MICROGRAVIMETRIC IMMUNOASSAY OF HEPATITIS B-RELATED BIOMARKERS

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health issue that becomes 10th leading cause of death worldwide. As the world population remain under the threat of chronic HBV infection, the ability to detect, or monitor, HBV related biomarkers at early stage of infection efficiently becomes ever more important. A rapid and reliable biosensor which can be used to detect hepatitis B-related biomarkers is needed, especially as a point-of-care (POC) diagnosis of HBV infection. The development of hepatitis B biomolecule-sensing hydrogel was undertaken with the aim of designing a simple quartz crystal microgravimetry (QCM) biosensor to quantitatively detect hepatitis B-related biomarkers. This project began with preparation of the suitable HBcAg, followed by synthesis and characterization of the unconjugated hydrogels, and subsequently bio-functionalization of the developed hydrogels.