New photonic biosensor breakthrough promises diagnostic improvements

Scientists have identified a promising new method of creating highly accurate biosensor devices capable of advanced diagnostic and detection functions.

A team from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering have developed a new advance on previous research showing that optical fibres can be used to excite a 'whispering gallery mode' (WGM) in polymer microbeads, allowing them to gauge the mass of viruses, proteins and other nanoparticles rapidly.

They have now been able to determine the density of charges on an area of a WGM microbead's surface, as well as the charge of an ensnared nanoparticle or virus, by measuring how light frequency fluctuations. This makes it possible to actually manipulate nanoparticles, rather than just identifying them.

This could make it possible to increase the efficiency of nanoparticle drug uptake and redistribution, for example, or to detect extremely low concentrations of suspected airborne nerve agents.

Stephen Arnold, professor of applied physics at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, explained: "Charge controls the ability to transport particles that are interacting with cells and other objects that possess electric fields. By determining the charge of a virus, for example, you can understand how it can be transported to the cell surface."

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