Fig. 6

Clinical prognosis of PCa and microwave-accelerated eFIA with AgNIS. Serum eFIA tests to monitor A RALRP in non-metastatic PCa patients (n = 13), and B hormone therapy in metastatic PCa patients (n = 10). The corresponding interventional procedures are demonstrated by schematic graphs alongside. All patients responded with a decline in serum PSA after either intervention. Data were normalized by the averaged fluorescence intensity of all enrolled patients in each interventional group before therapy. Statistical analysis was performed with the two-tailed Paired Samples t-test. C Temperature variations of PS and AgNIS upon 80 s of 200 W microwave irradiation. Inset: thermographic images of PS and AgNIS before and after microwave irradiation was applied. D Schematic showing the evaluation of microwave acceleration on AgNIS. Biotin-BSA and CF647-labeled SA were used as model probes. Non-specific binding of CF647-SA to the surface under microwave was used as the background control. E Effect of irradiation time with 200 W microwave on the signal-to-background ratio. Microwave-accelerated specific binding represented by increased MFI was found on both PS and AgNIS, but the optimal S/B ratio of AgNIS is approximately twofold of PS. Significantly less binding was seen in controls without microwave irradiation on PS and AgNIS. F Calibration curves of microwave-accelerated fluorescence immunoassays on PS and AgNIS