Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section

A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical and Photonic Biosensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 23609

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC, CIBER-BBN and BIST, Campus UAB Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: nanoplasmonics biosensors; nanophotonic biosensors; biofunctionalization strategies; clinical diagnosis; point-of-care devices; lab-on-a-chip; nanotechnology; nanomedicine; multiplexed analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the enabling role of photonics in the field of biosensing is rapidly strengthening. Photonic biosensors, which are mainly intended for health applications, environmental monitoring, and food/water quality control, have reached the appropriate maturity for their entry into the market and research effort in this field is rapidly increasing.

The Special Issue will provide a forum for the last research activities in photonic biosensors. Theoretical and experimental papers are solicited in, though not limited to, the following areas:

  • micro-photonic chip-based biosensors,
  • fiber-optic biosensors,
  • lab-on-fiber devices,
  • photonic biosensors based on metasurfaces and photonic crystals,
  • optofluidic biosensors
  • plasmonic biosensors based on surface plasmon resonance, localized surface plasmon resonance, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering,
  • emerging application of Photonics in the field of biosensing,
  • new materials and phyical concepts intended for photonic biosensors.

Review papers focused on specific aspects of the field of photonic biosensors are solicited, especially if they provie a chomprensive and critical analysis taking into account applications needs and market prospects.

Dr. Francesco Dell’Olio
Dr. Maria Carmen Estévez Alberola
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biosensor 
  • photonics 
  • plasmonics 
  • optofluidics 
  • lab-on-chip

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2807 KiB  
Article
Integration of Power-Free and Self-Contained Microfluidic Chip with Fiber Optic Particle Plasmon Resonance Aptasensor for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein
by Ting-Chou Chang, Aileen Y. Sun, Yu-Chung Huang, Chih-Hui Wang, Shau-Chun Wang and Lai-Kwan Chau
Biosensors 2022, 12(10), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12100785 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2312
Abstract
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created an unrivalled need for sensitive and rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) methods for the detection of infectious viruses. For the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) is one of the most abundant structural proteins of the [...] Read more.
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created an unrivalled need for sensitive and rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) methods for the detection of infectious viruses. For the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) is one of the most abundant structural proteins of the virus and it serves as a useful diagnostic marker for detection. Herein, we report a fiber optic particle plasmon resonance (FOPPR) biosensor which employed a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamer as the recognition element to detect the SARS-CoV-2 N-protein in 15 min with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.8 nM, meeting the acceptable LOD of 106 copies/mL set by the WHO target product profile. The sensor chip is a microfluidic chip based on the balance between the gravitational potential and the capillary force to control fluid loading, thus enabling the power-free auto-flowing function. It also has a risk-free self-contained design to avoid the risk of the virus leaking into the environment. These findings demonstrate the potential for designing a low-cost and robust POCT device towards rapid antigen detection for early screening of SARS-CoV-2 and its related mutants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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20 pages, 4040 KiB  
Article
Development and In-Depth Characterization of Bacteria Repellent and Bacteria Adhesive Antibody-Coated Surfaces Using Optical Waveguide Biosensing
by Eniko Farkas, Robert Tarr, Tamás Gerecsei, Andras Saftics, Kinga Dóra Kovács, Balazs Stercz, Judit Domokos, Beatrix Peter, Sandor Kurunczi, Inna Szekacs, Attila Bonyár, Anita Bányai, Péter Fürjes, Szilvia Ruszkai-Szaniszló, Máté Varga, Barnabás Szabó, Eszter Ostorházi, Dóra Szabó and Robert Horvath
Biosensors 2022, 12(2), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12020056 - 20 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4194
Abstract
Bacteria repellent surfaces and antibody-based coatings for bacterial assays have shown a growing demand in the field of biosensors, and have crucial importance in the design of biomedical devices. However, in-depth investigations and comparisons of possible solutions are still missing. The optical waveguide [...] Read more.
Bacteria repellent surfaces and antibody-based coatings for bacterial assays have shown a growing demand in the field of biosensors, and have crucial importance in the design of biomedical devices. However, in-depth investigations and comparisons of possible solutions are still missing. The optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS) technique offers label-free, non-invasive, in situ characterization of protein and bacterial adsorption. Moreover, it has excellent flexibility for testing various surface coatings. Here, we describe an OWLS-based method supporting the development of bacteria repellent surfaces and characterize the layer structures and affinities of different antibody-based coatings for bacterial assays. In order to test nonspecific binding blocking agents against bacteria, OWLS chips were coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA), I-block, PAcrAM-g-(PMOXA, NH2, Si), (PAcrAM-P) and PLL-g-PEG (PP) (with different coating temperatures), and subsequent Escherichia coli adhesion was monitored. We found that the best performing blocking agents could inhibit bacterial adhesion from samples with bacteria concentrations of up to 107 cells/mL. Various immobilization methods were applied to graft a wide range of selected antibodies onto the biosensor’s surface. Simple physisorption, Mix&Go (AnteoBind) (MG) films, covalently immobilized protein A and avidin–biotin based surface chemistries were all fabricated and tested. The surface adsorbed mass densities of deposited antibodies were determined, and the biosensor;s kinetic data were evaluated to divine the possible orientations of the bacteria-capturing antibodies and determine the rate constants and footprints of the binding events. The development of affinity layers was supported by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measurements in order to test the bacteria binding capabilities of the antibodies. The best performance in the biosensor measurements was achieved by employing a polyclonal antibody in combination with protein A-based immobilization and PAcrAM-P blocking of nonspecific binding. Using this setting, a surface sensitivity of 70 cells/mm2 was demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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13 pages, 2947 KiB  
Article
Field-Portable Leukocyte Classification Device Based on Lens-Free Shadow Imaging Technique
by Dongmin Seo, Euijin Han, Samir Kumar, Eekhyoung Jeon, Myung-Hyun Nam, Hyun Sik Jun and Sungkyu Seo
Biosensors 2022, 12(2), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios12020047 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2790
Abstract
The complete blood count (CBC) is one of the most important clinical steps in clinical diagnosis. The instruments used for CBC are usually expensive and bulky and require well-trained operators. Therefore, it is difficult for medical institutions below the tertiary level to provide [...] Read more.
The complete blood count (CBC) is one of the most important clinical steps in clinical diagnosis. The instruments used for CBC are usually expensive and bulky and require well-trained operators. Therefore, it is difficult for medical institutions below the tertiary level to provide these instruments, especially in underprivileged countries. Several reported on-chip blood cell tests are still in their infancy and do not deviate from conventional microscopic or impedance measurement methods. In this study, we (i) combined magnetically activated cell sorting and the differential density method to develop a method to selectively isolate three types of leukocytes from blood and obtain samples with high purity and concentration for portable leukocyte classification using the lens-free shadow imaging technique (LSIT), and (ii) established several shadow parameters to identify the type of leukocytes in a complete leukocyte shadow image by shadow image analysis. The purity of the separated leukocytes was confirmed by flow cytometry. Several shadow parameters such as the “order ratio” and “minimum ratio” were developed to classify the three types of leukocytes. A shadow image library corresponding to each type of leukocyte was created from the tested samples. Compared with clinical reference data, a correlation index of 0.98 was obtained with an average error of 6% and a confidence level of 95%. This technique offers great potential for biological, pharmaceutical, environmental, and clinical applications, especially where point-of-care detection of rare cells is required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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13 pages, 2921 KiB  
Article
Low-Power Two-Color Stimulated Emission Depletion Microscopy for Live Cell Imaging
by Jia Zhang, Xinwei Gao, Luwei Wang, Yong Guo, Yinru Zhu, Zhigang Yang, Wei Yan and Junle Qu
Biosensors 2021, 11(9), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11090330 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2633
Abstract
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is a typical laser-scanning super-resolution imaging technology, the emergence of which has opened a new research window for studying the dynamic processes of live biological samples on a nanometer scale. According to the characteristics of STED, a high [...] Read more.
Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy is a typical laser-scanning super-resolution imaging technology, the emergence of which has opened a new research window for studying the dynamic processes of live biological samples on a nanometer scale. According to the characteristics of STED, a high depletion power is required to obtain a high resolution. However, a high laser power can induce severe phototoxicity and photobleaching, which limits the applications for live cell imaging, especially in two-color STED super-resolution imaging. Therefore, we developed a low-power two-color STED super-resolution microscope with a single supercontinuum white-light laser. Using this system, we achieved low-power two-color super-resolution imaging based on digital enhancement technology. Lateral resolutions of 109 and 78 nm were obtained for mitochondria and microtubules in live cells, respectively, with 0.8 mW depletion power. These results highlight the great potential of the novel digitally enhanced two-color STED microscopy for long-term dynamic imaging of live cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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13 pages, 4625 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Anticancer Drug Sensitivity Sensing through Single-Cell Raman Spectroscopy
by Jingkai Wang, Kaicheng Lin, Huijie Hu, Xingwang Qie, Wei E. Huang, Zhisong Cui, Yan Gong and Yizhi Song
Biosensors 2021, 11(8), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11080286 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4733
Abstract
Traditional in vitro anticancer drug sensitivity testing at the population level suffers from lengthy procedures and high false positive rates. To overcome these defects, we built a confocal Raman microscopy sensing system and proposed a single-cell approach via Raman-deuterium isotope probing (Raman-DIP) as [...] Read more.
Traditional in vitro anticancer drug sensitivity testing at the population level suffers from lengthy procedures and high false positive rates. To overcome these defects, we built a confocal Raman microscopy sensing system and proposed a single-cell approach via Raman-deuterium isotope probing (Raman-DIP) as a rapid and reliable in vitro drug efficacy evaluation method. Raman-DIP detected the incorporation of deuterium into the cell, which correlated with the metabolic activity of the cell. The human non-small cell lung cancer cell line HCC827 and human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 were tested against eight different anticancer drugs. The metabolic activity of cancer cells could be detected as early as 12 h, independent of cell growth. Incubation of cells in 30% heavy water (D2O) did not show any negative effect on cell viability. Compared with traditional methods, Raman-DIP could accurately determine the drug effect, meanwhile, it could reduce the testing period from 72–144 h to 48 h. Moreover, the heterogeneity of cells responding to anticancer drugs was observed at the single-cell level. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated the potential of Raman-DIP to be a reliable tool for cancer drug discovery and drug susceptibility testing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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14 pages, 1788 KiB  
Article
Development of a Point-of-Care System Based on White Light Reflectance Spectroscopy: Application in CRP Determination
by Dimitra Tsounidi, Georgios Koukouvinos, Vasilios Christianidis, Evangelia Legaki, Vasiliki Giogli, Konstantina Panagiotopoulou, Styliani Taka, Zoi Ekaterinidi, Sotirios Kakabakos, Ioannis Raptis and Panagiota Petrou
Biosensors 2021, 11(8), 268; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11080268 - 08 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2830
Abstract
The development of methods and miniaturized systems for fast and reliable quantitative determinations at the Point-of-Care is a top challenge and priority in diagnostics. In this work, a compact bench-top system, based on White Light Reflectance Spectroscopy, is introduced and evaluated in an [...] Read more.
The development of methods and miniaturized systems for fast and reliable quantitative determinations at the Point-of-Care is a top challenge and priority in diagnostics. In this work, a compact bench-top system, based on White Light Reflectance Spectroscopy, is introduced and evaluated in an application with high clinical interest, namely the determination of C-Reactive protein (CRP) in human blood samples. The system encompassed all the necessary electronic and optical components for the performance of the assay, while the dedicated software provided the sequence and duration of assay steps, the reagents flow rate, the real-time monitoring of sensor response, and data processing to deliver in short time and accurately the CPR concentration in the sample. The CRP assay included two steps, the first comprising the binding of sample CRP onto the chip immobilized capture antibody and the second the reaction of the surface immunosorbed CRP molecules with the detection antibody. The assay duration was 12 min and the dynamic range was from 0.05 to 200 μg/mL, covering both normal values and acute inflammation incidents. There was an excellent agreement between CRP values determined in human plasma samples using the developed device with those received for the same samples by a standard diagnostic laboratory method. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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Review

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15 pages, 4831 KiB  
Review
Multiplexed Liquid Biopsy and Tumor Imaging Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering
by Francesco Dell’Olio
Biosensors 2021, 11(11), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11110449 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2926
Abstract
The recent improvements in diagnosis enabled by advances in liquid biopsy and oncological imaging significantly better cancer care. Both these complementary approaches, which are used for early tumor detection, characterization, and monitoring, can benefit from applying techniques based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). [...] Read more.
The recent improvements in diagnosis enabled by advances in liquid biopsy and oncological imaging significantly better cancer care. Both these complementary approaches, which are used for early tumor detection, characterization, and monitoring, can benefit from applying techniques based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). With a detection sensitivity at the single-molecule level, SERS spectroscopy is widely used in cell and molecular biology, and its capability for the in vitro detection of several types of cancer biomarkers is well established. In the last few years, several intriguing SERS applications have emerged, including in vivo imaging for tumor targeting and the monitoring of drug release. In this paper, selected recent developments and trends in SERS applications in the field of liquid biopsy and tumor imaging are critically reviewed, with a special emphasis on results that demonstrate the clinical utility of SERS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Issue of Optical and Photonic Biosensors Section)
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