Abstract
Diagnosis and treatment of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) have been reported as one of the most costly complications after joint arthroplasty. This work demonstrates point-of-care applications for screening aptamers specific to α-defensin human neutrophil peptide (HNP)-1 used as a synovial fluid biomarker for detecting PJI. An integrated microfluidic system capable of performing protein-based systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (protein-SELEX) process on-chip was developed. Aptamers detecting HNP-1 were screened successfully and may be applied in liquid biopsy in the near future.