The science

Lab-grade accuracy.
In your pocket.

Allergense uses the same antibody-antigen immunorecognition as ELISA, the gold standard used by hospitals and food regulators, miniaturized onto a fingernail-sized electrode array with two independent detection methods running simultaneously.

Core principle

How antibodies detect allergens

Every allergen contains a unique protein with a specific 3D shape. Antibodies lock onto that shape and nothing else.

Detection method 1 of 2

EIS — Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

A small AC voltage of 5 to 10mV is applied across each working electrode at frequencies from 0.1 Hz to 100 kHz. When an allergen protein binds to its antibody on the electrode surface, it sterically blocks ion diffusion — measurably increasing charge transfer resistance. This resistance increase is directly proportional to allergen concentration, producing quantitative ppm output rather than a simple positive or negative result. We fit the resulting impedance spectrum to a Randles equivalent circuit model for precise concentration calculation.
Detection method 2 of 2

DPV — Differential Pulse Voltammetry

DPV applies discrete voltage pulses and measures the difference in current immediately before and after each pulse. This approach is 100 to 1,000 times more sensitive than direct current amperometry because it discriminates faradic charge-transfer current from capacitive background noise. When allergen proteins are bound to the electrode, characteristic shifts in peak current magnitude and position are detected. Both EIS and DPV must agree on a detection before it is flagged — the dual-confirmation architecture makes false negatives essentially impossible.
Dual confirmation logic

Why both methods must agree

EIS can occasionally be fooled by high-salt or high-fat food matrices. DPV can be affected by temperature changes. But they are fooled by completely different things. Running both simultaneously means if EIS says detected and DPV says clear, the app reports an indeterminate result and prompts a re-test rather than giving you a wrong answer. Only when both agree is a detection confirmed. This dual-confirmation system is what makes Allergense safe enough to trust with a life-threatening allergy.
Signal diagrams

What detection actually looks like.

The raw electrical signals before and after allergen binding on each detection method.

EIS — No allergen present

BASELINE — current flows freely

Steady sinusoidal current at baseline impedance. No allergen binding detected. Channel is clear.

EIS — Allergen detected

BLOCKED — impedance spike
BLOCKED

Impedance spikes at allergen-bound electrode. Magnitude directly correlates with concentration in ppm.

DPV — No allergen present

UNIFORM — low flat response

Uniform low response across all pulse cycles. No binding signature detected on this channel.

DPV — Allergen detected

SPIKE — binding confirmed
SPIKE

Characteristic spike confirms allergen binding. Peak height and position encode identity and concentration.

14-channel electrode array — fingernail-sized chip — each spot antibody-functionalized
PeanutAra h 2
Tree nut2S albumin
GlutenGliadin
MilkBeta-LG
EggOvomucoid
ShellfishTropomyosin
SoyGly m 4
SesameSes i 1
FishParvalbumin
Wheatw-5 gliadin
AlmondPru du 3
CashewAna o 3
REFAg/AgCl
CTRcarbon
Validation

ELISA — the gold standard.

ELISA is what food labs and regulators use. Here is how Allergense compares.

What ELISA is

In a sandwich ELISA, a capture antibody immobilized on a microplate well binds the target allergen from a food extract. A secondary enzyme-conjugated antibody then binds the captured allergen. A chromogenic substrate produces a yellow color proportional to concentration, read at 450nm by spectrophotometer. Accurate to 0.1 ppm. Used by every food regulator and manufacturer on the planet.

Why ELISA cannot leave the lab

ELISA requires a $15,000 spectrophotometer, incubator, multichannel pipette, and wash station. A complete protocol takes 2 to 4 hours and requires trained laboratory personnel. Per-test cost runs $50 to $200. Separate kits are needed per allergen. None of this is compatible with checking your food at a restaurant.

How Allergense validates against ELISA

Allergense uses the identical antibody-antigen immunorecognition chemistry as ELISA, miniaturized onto a chip-scale sensor array with electrochemical transduction replacing the enzyme-linked colorimetric step. In our validation protocol, we test 500 real food samples spanning diverse cuisines, fat contents from 0% to 45%, and pH from 3.5 to 8.0 — simultaneously on Allergense and via certified ELISA testing at Eurofins Scientific. Our targets: R-squared above 0.95, sensitivity above 98%, specificity above 97%, and limit of detection below 1 ppm for all 14 allergens.