Ultra-thin lamellar material-based sensors for low-cost, ultrasensitive quantification of serum neurofilament light chain for neurological diagnosis

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a recognized blood-based biomarker of neuronal injury, with elevated levels associated with neurological disorders and disease severity. Point-of-care NfL quantification could enable on-site clinical decision-making, but remains challenging due to its ultralow concentrations and interference from complex biological matrices. Existing platforms are limited by cost, complexity, and scalability, making sensitive, label-free detection a critical yet unresolved need for early diagnosis and disease monitoring. Here, we present a novel ultra-thin lamellar materials-based field-effect transistor (LM-FET) sensor with wafer-scale and low-cost production (less than US$1 per sensor). The LM-FET sensor achieved a calculated sensitivity of 7.6 fg/mL across 1–100 pg/mL in detecting NfL in human serum, with high reproducibility (coefficient of variance 1.44%) and rapid response (~5 s). It accurately quantified NfL in clinical serum samples with strong correlation to single-molecule array assay (±2.21%), offering a scalable route to point-of-care diagnostics.