BME PhD Proposal Seminar: Mark A. Lifson

Ultra-sensitive Biosensing With 2-D Photonic Crystal Sensors

Supervised by Professor Ben Miller

Abstract

A two dimensional photonic crystal (2D-PhC) is a label-free optical biosensor that can potentially detect many pathogens simultaneously. Simulations and experiments show that these devices are capable of detecting single latex particles non-selectively; however, when used as biosensors, only nano-molar concentrations of biomarkers, such as immunoglobulin proteins and Human Papilloma Virus Like Particles (HPV-VLPs), have been detected. With the goal of single HPV-VLP detection, this proposal outlines two novel aims that will allow the 2D-PhC sensor to measure pico-molar or better concentrations of pathogens from a complex biological solution. The first aim of this proposal is to reduce the non-specific adsorption of highly concentrated proteins normally found within complex biological solutions, while the second aim is to localize the antibody-based recognition elements to a single 75 nanometer sensing region on the device. With these two methods, pico-molar or better detection of Human Papilloma Virus Like Particles is also proposed.