The Science of EFIRM

What is EFIRM?

EFIRM stands for electric field induced release and measurement. EFIRM is EZLife Bio’s core technology that detects the presence of DNA or other biomolecules. The steps involving EFIRM assay are:

1. Capture probe immobilization: Molecular probes are first immobilized at the base of a 96-well gold electrode plate.
2. Direct target capture: Patient sample in the form of saliva or plasma is mixed with reporter probes and added directly to the well.
3. Reporter enzyme hybridization: Reporter molecule conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is added.
4. Electrochemical measurement: Signal amplification is performed by addition of substrate for horseradish peroxidase to cause the electrons to be drawn up through the gold electrodes and the current in units of nanoampere is measured for biomolecule detection.

How does EFIRM Work?

The EFIRM platform is actuated by an electrochemical control system that works in 96-parallel channels. This electrochemical control system connects to a gold electrode array with the footprint of a traditional microtiter plate.

EFIRM is actuated molecularly by coating the gold electrodes with a highly efficient method that allows for the rapid immobilization of DNA probes, antibodies, antigens, and other small molecules. These biomolecules are immobilized in such high amounts that they form a highly sensitive molecular capture layer. This layer is then combined with a pulsed electric field method and enzymatic electrochemical readout system, which an instrument reads at the nanoamp-scale, allowing for highly sensitive measurement of biomolecule levels.