Novel flexible membrane based SERS for biomarker detection in chronic wound healing

A flexible membrane based Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) sensor was developed as a viable point-of-care platform to monitor changes of these surrogate indicators of healing status in chronic wounds, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs). In terms of performance, SERS approach is superior to enzyme-based assays, which are resource intensive. We demonstrated the efficiency of this flexible SERS platform for the sensitive detection of TNFα and MMP9 in the nM to pM range. These substrates may be incorporated into wound dressings to permit routine monitoring of wound status.