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Design of a handheld and portable fluorescence imaging system for quantitative detection of pregnancy-specific biomarkers in cattle

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Abstract

Reproductive management significantly impacts dairy farm productivity, necessitating accurate timely pregnancy detection in cattle. This paper presents a novel handheld and portable fluorescence imaging system designed for quantitative assessment of pregnancy-specific biomarkers, addressing the limitations of current detection methods. The objective was to develop a cost-effective, at-farm solution for detecting pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) in bovine plasma samples. The system integrates an imaging module and a custom software application, enabling image capture, data processing, and PSPB concentration determination. Calibration utilizing known PSPB concentrations achieved a 0.6 ng/mL limit of detection. Validation encompassed a comparison with a standard ELISA method using 100 bovine plasma samples; minimal bias and good agreement were observed within the linear range of the calibration curve for both methods. The system offers portability, user-friendliness, and potential for multiplex detection, promising real-time, at-farm reproductive management. This study demonstrates the successful development and validation of a portable fluorescence imaging system, offering an efficient and accurate approach to detecting pregnancy-specific biomarkers in cattle. Its implications extend to improving dairy farm productivity by enabling timely and reliable reproductive management practices.

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Funding

This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Foundational program area priority Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems project number 2016–08814 and BioTracking LLC.

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Author notes

  1. Iftak Hussain and Clara Rial contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    Iftak Hussain & David Erickson

  2. Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Clara Rial, Sheridan Tompkins & Julio Giordano

  3. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    Juan Boza

  4. BioTracking, LLC, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA

    Josh Branen

  5. Cornell University, 124 Hoy Road, 369 Upson Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    David Erickson

Authors
  1. Iftak Hussain
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  2. Clara Rial
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  3. Juan Boza
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  4. Sheridan Tompkins
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  5. Josh Branen
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  6. Julio Giordano
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  7. David Erickson
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Contributions

Iftak Hussain and Clara Rial: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing. Juan Boza, Sheridan Tompkins, and Josh Branen: Methodology. Julio Giordano and David Erickson: Conceptualization, resources, supervision, funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Erickson.

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Ethics approval

All procedures for collecting plasma samples from cows were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Cornell University.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Hussain, I., Rial, C., Boza, J. et al. Design of a handheld and portable fluorescence imaging system for quantitative detection of pregnancy-specific biomarkers in cattle. Anal Bioanal Chem (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05333-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-024-05333-6

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