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A Proof-of-Concept Graphene-Functionalised Embroidered Textile Biosensing Platform for Salivary Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Detection
Richardson B, Casson A, Blanford C, Gunputh U.. Research Square, 2026-08-27
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Electrochemical biosensors offer a promising route for the rapid, non-invasive detection of disease biomarkers by converting biochemical interactions into measurable electrical signals. Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis currently relies primarily on blood and cerebrospinal fluid analyses, these approaches are invasive, costly, and unsuitable for continuous monitoring. Saliva has emerged as an attractive alternative biofluid due to its non-invasive collection and growing evidence supporting the presence of AD-associated biomarkers. In this study, a flexible textile-based biosensing platform was developed for the detection of AD biomarkers using embroidered interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) integrated within a multilayer fabric substrate. The IDEs were functionalised with graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), anti-tau-functionalised GO (AntiTau-GO), and anti-tau-functionalised rGO (AntiTau-rGO) conductive inks. Surface chemistry was modified using EDC/NHS-mediated covalent immobilisation of anti-tau antibodies to further test the surface stability. The electrical stability and sensing performance of the embroidered biosensing platforms were evaluated using electrochemical resistance measurements following exposure to deionised water, phosphate-buffered saline, artificial saliva, tau protein, and amyloid-β (Aβ) protein. The rGO-coated electrodes demonstrated improved electrical stability and lower resistance variation compared with GO-coated electrodes, reflecting enhanced conductivity following chemical reduction. Furthermore, the AntiTau-rGO biosensing platforms exhibited the most stable functionalisation and measurable resistance responses following exposure to tau protein. This suggests feasibility of antibody-functionalised textile electrodes for selective biomarker detection with further development. These findings highlight the potential of graphene-functionalised embroidered biosensing platforms as low-cost, wearable platforms for the non-invasive monitoring of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in saliva.
Key findings
- The rGO-coated electrodes demonstrated improved electrical stability and lower resistance variation compared with GO-coated electrodes, reflecting enhanced conductivity following chemical reduction.
- These findings highlight the potential of graphene-functionalised embroidered biosensing platforms as low-cost, wearable platforms for the non-invasive monitoring of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in saliva.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 21 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 21 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Research Square) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 13 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 21 out of 100. |
| Total | 21 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Richardson, B., Casson, A., Blanford, C., & Gunputh, U. (2026). A Proof-of-Concept Graphene-Functionalised Embroidered Textile Biosensing Platform for Salivary Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Detection. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10535881/v1
Vancouver
Richardson B, Casson A, Blanford C, Gunputh U. A Proof-of-Concept Graphene-Functionalised Embroidered Textile Biosensing Platform for Salivary Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Detection. Research Square. 2026. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10535881/v1.
BibTeX
@article{richardson2026-dfc57a73,
author = {Richardson, B. and Casson, A. and Blanford, C. and Gunputh, U.},
title = {{A Proof-of-Concept Graphene-Functionalised Embroidered Textile Biosensing Platform for Salivary Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Detection}},
journal = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-10535881/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10535881/v1}
}
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