An overview of the biosensing system. Credit: Advanced Healthcare Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202503155
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a new low-cost blood test that could make it easier to detect Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier stage—helping patients receive treatment and support sooner.
Two studies, published in Advanced Healthcare Materials and ACS Sensors, show that simple, handheld devices incorporating molecularly imprinted polymer-based biosensors and powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—can measure key biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in the blood with accuracy similar to expensive hospital-based tests, but at a fraction of the cost.
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 55 million people worldwide and is the most common form of dementia. Current tests, such as those used in specialist hospital labs, are accurate but expensive, complex, and not widely available. This limits early diagnosis—especially in local clinics, GP surgeries, and in low- and middle-income countries where resources are limited.
The new Liverpool-designed platform aims to change that.
Low-cost breakthrough technologies
In the first study, researchers developed a sensor that uses specially designed “plastic antibodies” attached to a porous gold surface. This allowed them to detect tiny amounts of a protein linked to Alzheimer’s (called phosphorylated tau 181, or p-tau181) in blood samples. The test worked reliably across different blood preparations and gave results that matched high-end laboratory methods.
Credit: ACS Sensors (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.5c01816
In the second study, the team created a sensor built on a simple printed circuit board—the same material used in everyday electronics. Using a unique chemical coating, the device was able to detect the same Alzheimer’s biomarker and differentiate both healthy and patient samples. It performed almost as well as the gold-standard laboratory test (SIMOA), but at far lower cost. These studies were performed as part of a UK Japan MRC AMED research project on development of ultrasensitive, multianalyte biosensors for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
The device links to a low-cost reader and a web app that uses AI to analyze the results instantly, meaning no specialist training is needed to operate them.
Making testing accessible worldwide
Corresponding Dr. Sanjiv Sharma, from the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, said, “Our goal is to make Alzheimer’s testing as accessible as checking blood pressure or blood sugar. By combining low-cost sensors with affordable electronics and artificial intelligence, we can deliver accurate results for multiple biomarkers in a drop of blood in minutes—whether in an NHS clinic or in a rural health center anywhere in the world.”
The World Health Organization has called for more affordable, decentralized tests for brain diseases. These new Liverpool-led technologies bring that vision closer to reality, offering hope for earlier diagnosis and better care for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
More information: Sudhaunsh Deshpande et al, Redox‐Active Polyphenol Red Molecularly Imprinted Polymers on Porous Gold Electrodes for Ultrasensitive, AI‐Assisted Detection of Alzheimer’s Biomarkers in Undiluted Biofluids, Advanced Healthcare Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202503155
Ajith Mohan Arjun et al, Low-Cost Polyphenol–Polypyrrole Molecularly Imprinted Sensor for Point-of-Care Alzheimer’s Detection, ACS Sensors (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.5c01816
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