Tapered plastic optical fiber-based biosensor--tests and application

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Cell detection is vital for analyzing clinical, food, water, and environmental samples.
• Current cell detection methods are often time-consuming.
• Plastic optical fiber (POF) biosensors present a promising alternative for rapid and cost-effective detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the sensitivity of POF tapers for microbiological detection.
• To evaluate the impact of geometric parameters, specifically taper waist diameter, on sensor performance.
• To optimize POF taper characteristics for enhanced sensitivity.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a series of POF taper sensors using a specialized tapering machine.
• Evaluation of geometric dimension dispersion to identify optimal tapering characteristics.
• Chemical treatment of selected fiber tapers to function as immunosensors.

Main Results:

• U-shaped (bended) fiber tapers demonstrated the finest results.
• Optimal taper waist diameters for enhanced sensitivity ranged from 0.40 mm to 0.50 mm.
• These optimized tapers were successfully employed as immunosensors.

Conclusions:

• Optimized POF taper geometry, particularly U-shaped configurations with specific waist diameters, significantly enhances biosensor sensitivity.
• POF taper biosensors are effective for the rapid detection of bacteria, yeast, and erythrocytes.
• This technology offers a viable alternative to traditional time-consuming cell detection methods.