PPubMed5 Feb 2016Cited 29×

A Complete Optical Sensor System Based on a POF-SPR Platform and a Thermo-Stabilized Flow Cell for Biochemical Applications

Nunzio Cennamo, Francesco Chiavaioli, Cosimo Trono, Sara Tombelli, Ambra Giannetti, Francesco Baldini, Luigi Zeni, Alexander Star

Abstract

'Ambra Giannetti' 'Francesco Baldini' 'Luigi Zeni' 'Alexander Star'] An optical sensor platform based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a plastic optical fiber (POF) integrated into a thermo-stabilized flow cell for biochemical sensing applications is proposed. This device has been realized and experimentally tested by using a classic receptor-analyte assay. For this purpose, the gold surface of the POF was chemically modified through the formation of a self-assembling monolayer. The surface robustness of the POF-SPR platform has been tested for the first time thanks to the flow cell. The experimental results show that the proposed device can be successfully used for label-free biochemical sensing. The final goal of this work is to achieve a complete, small-size, simple to use and low cost optical sensor system. The whole system with the flow cell and the optical sensor are extensively described, together with the experimental results obtained with an immunoglobulin G (IgG)/anti-IgG assay.

A figure from A Complete Optical Sensor System Based on a POF-SPR Platform and a Thermo-Stabilized Flow Cell for Biochemical Applications — fig. from the paper

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First experimental demonstration of a plastic optical fiber SPR sensor integrated with a thermo‑stabilized flow cell for label‑free biochemical sensing.

What’s new

i.Developed a complete optical sensor system that combines a POF‑SPR platform with a thermo‑stabilized flow cell
ii.Demonstrated for the first time the surface robustness of the POF‑SPR sensor under flow conditions
iii.Achieved label‑free detection of IgG/anti‑IgG in both buffer and human serum using the integrated system
iv.Designed and implemented precise temperature control (23 °C ± 0.1 °C) within the flow cell

How they did it

The sensor was fabricated by removing the cladding of a 980 µm‑core plastic optical fiber, coating the exposed core with a 1.5 µm photoresist layer, and sputtering a 60 nm gold film. The gold surface was functionalized with a self‑assembled monolayer of 11‑mercaptoundecanoic acid, followed by EDC/NHS activation, IgG immobilization, and BSA blocking. The functionalized fiber was placed in a thermo‑stabilized flow cell kept at 23 °C ± 0.1 °C, and resonance spectra were recorded with a halogen lamp and a USB2000+ spectrometer while flowing analyte solutions of anti‑IgG at varying concentrations in buffer or human serum.

What they found

Detection limit below 0.01 mg/L for IgG in buffer (Figure 5)
Resonance wavelength shift of ~2.7 nm at 10 mg/L anti‑IgG in buffer (Figure 5)
Resonance wavelength shift of ~2.2 nm at 10 mg/L anti‑IgG in human serum (Figure 7)
Initial SPR resonance at 576 nm for buffer measurements and 626 nm for serum measurements

Caveats

✕Full regeneration of the gold surface (including removal of thiol layers) was not addressed
✕Sensor response in serum is reduced compared to buffer due to matrix complexity
✕Signal‑to‑noise ratio is lower than that of smaller‑diameter fiber sensors
✕Regeneration protocols for consecutive assay cycles remain to be investigated

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